A Bet of a Lifetime
by TheOrangeSpark
Summary: A seemingly inconsequential event can have a rippling effect on the future. During his time away from the village with Jiraiya, the two agree on a bet that will do just that. With his path now on a different trajectory, Naruto must prove to the world that he can overcome adversity and hatred to be it's savior. Or maybe, he will be the key to its destruction.
1. The Bet (Edited)

**Author's Note: Welcome to 'A Bet of a Lifetime', where a small event can, and will, drastically change the future.**

 **Leave your thoughts, question, concerns in the reviews below. PM me if you would rather not leave a review, all feedback is good feedback. I want this story to be as good as it possibly can be, and that can only be done with your help! Thanks and enjoy!**

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 **(Edited 12/6/18)**

 **Edited for much needed format changes, punctuation, and some spelling errors. I know I probably missed quite a few but I hope most of the glaring ones are gone now. They had been annoying me for quite some time and I finally decided to do something about it.**

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-One Week After Leaving the Village-

It was a hot, sunny day in the land of fire. The birds were chirping, the sky was clear and blue. Everything was perfect to Naruto's liking… he just couldn't enjoy it because a certain old pervert with long, white hair was constantly giggling. The high-pitched giggles erupting from the Sannin were unsettling, to say the least. How does a grown man hit such a high note? The blond did not know.

"Ugh!" He grunted in frustration as he sat up. He was supposed to be training and learning super cool techniques, not watching his master stare at girls in a hot spring all day!

Jiraiya's ears twitched in annoyance at the boy's attempt to gain his attention. Not only was it loud, but it threw off his delicate concentration. It's not every day you get to see beautiful women like this and he was certainly not going to waste this opportunity.

"Would you quiet down a little, gaki?" Jiraiya whispered harshly, glancing back at his blond pupil. "Or are you trying to get the two of us busted?"

Naruto's ears perked up at his master's choice of words. He frowned. "Us? What do you mean us?" He whispered back just as harshly, trying not to alert the women who were only about 25 feet away from them.

"You're here too, aren't you?" Jiraiya shot back. "Now if you don't stay quiet, you won't just ruin my research session, but you may also get us caught!" Hoping that the conversation was now over he turned back to his telescope to continue his 'research'.

Now, Naruto may not be the smartest shinobi in The Land of Fire, but even he knew what the white-haired Sannin meant when he said research. He had been around the self-proclaimed 'Super Pervert' to know that that title was legitimate.

The blond snorted in derision. "If we were caught, who do you think those women would want to beat up the most? The cute, innocent boy, or the old perv holding a telescope that dragged him here?" The longer the conversation wore on the louder the two of them got. They were so caught up in their argument that they didn't even notice the girls in the hot spring looking around for the cause of the sound.

The sage opened his mouth to retort but quickly closed it once he realized that his student was right. If those girls found them he would assuredly get one-hundred percent of the beating. However, he was going to keep that to himself. The blond didn't need to know just how right he was.

Finally thinking of a retort, a smug smirk appeared across the sage's face. "I believe after explaining my reasoning for being in this… compromising position, the ladies over there would jump at the chance to help me get my inspiration." His face got red as drool began to drip from the corner of his mouth. Somehow, he believed his own words were true.

These were the moments that truly dumbfounded Naruto. How could a Sannin, one of the three shinobi of legend, act this way? A man whose immense power struck fear into the hearts of countless shinobi was nothing but a big, foolish pervert. Naruto mentally sighed. 'And he's my master. I'm doomed.'

"Oh, please." Naruto scoffed at the sage's false boasts. "We both know that you're just a big pervert who uses research as an excuse to spy on pretty girls!" He shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at his master. His patience was wearing thin. It had been a week since they had left and he still hasn't done any actual training.

'I left the village to get stronger to go after Sasuke, not to tag along and watch him perv around all day.' He thought to himself bitterly.

Jiraiya's smirk only grew, Naruto was positive more boasts were coming. "I'll have you know that without my constant inspiration I would never be able to continue my world famous Icha-Icha series!" He shouted back defensively. "Without my books, how would my loyal fans be able to live on?"

A giant tick mark appeared on Naruto's head. "Are you serious?" He shouted. "I bet a five-year-old would be able to write better books than you! At least their books would have an actual storyline!" Naruto smirked. Jiraiya didn't seem to notice what their loud volume was doing but he certainly did. Things were about to get very interesting.

He had no idea how right he was.

Now it was the usually composed Jiraiya's turn to get upset. "Well, I'm very sorry your tiny brain is incapable of understanding the complexities of my literary masterpieces!" The amount of pride radiating from his master made the blond question whether he should just go home and train by himself. He was starting to think the white-haired jonin was a lost cause. "A compelling tale of lust, passion, and love all wrapped up in one." Jiraiya continued his smirk ever so present on his face. "It's simply perfect."

Naruto was no longer paying attention to his bombastic instructor. Jiraiya's little speech had been extremely loud; he needed to get out of there immediately! He peered over the shoulder of the older man, what he saw caused his eyes to light up in fear. He sputtered out an excuse to leave as he backed away slowly.

The sudden change in attitude and body language did not go unnoticed by Jiraiya. "Naruto, what's the matter? Are you okay" He asked with actual concern in his voice.

Naruto quickly shook his head in an attempt to alleviate the worry. "I-I'm fine, Ero-Sennin." The nervous tone in his student's voice only furthered the older man's suspicion that something was not right.

"Are you su-"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" He exclaimed as he cut the sage off. "I'm not feeling too well, I'll see you back at the hotel!" With that, the blond sped off, leaving a Jiraiya confused behind.

He heard the urgency in his protégé's voice, but he was unaware of the reason behind it. At least, for now, he was unaware. "What was all of that about..?" he asked himself aloud.

"Ahem!" The voice was light, but a seasoned shinobi could feel the bloodlust behind it.

Jiraiya turned around slowly, and what he saw before him made him visibly pale. A group of angry, half-naked women were standing there, cracking their knuckles violently with unnerving looks on their faces. He suddenly remembered where he was and what he had been doing prior to arguing.

Suspiciously crouched just outside of the women's side of the hot spring holding a telescope. This spot had a perfect vantage point of where the girls had been, something that the girls were definitely aware of. Jiraiya gulped. 'Compromising position, indeed.' He thought to himself.

"N-Now listen L-Ladies… I know this looks bad but I can explain!" His last-ditch efforts to sputter out a response fell on deaf ears. Despite being in a similar situation more times than he could even count it was still just as terrifying as ever. These women were clearly kunoichi, he could feel the large amounts of chakra radiating off them.

And it was all directed at him. 'If it weren't for the bloodlust, this would be kinda hot.' Even in this precarious situation, he couldn't keep his mind out of the gutter. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain.

The screams of the Great Toad Sage echoed through the town. Naruto, who only about 100 feet away from the beatdown, chuckled softly to himself. It had felt like an eternity since he last allowed himself to laugh. And knowing that Jiraiya would be okay allowed him to not feel bad for laughing at his master's misfortune.

For a moment, the weight on the genin's shoulders felt manageable. He needed that. 'Thanks, Ero-Sennin.' He thought to himself fondly as he slowly headed back to the hotel.

* * *

-Later That Day-

"I can't believe you got away!" Naruto ran a hand through his spiky hair and sighed. "I was kinda hoping they would get a few more shots in on you." He added with a sheepish grin. He loved teasing his sensei almost as much as he liked eating ramen. Almost.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the verbal jab by his student. "I'm so sorry to disappoint you." He spat sarcastically, nursing a rather large bump on the back of his head. He winced as he rested a bag of ice on it. "Maybe next time I'll grope a couple of them then they'll really give me a beatdown." Despite that being a joke, the sage blushed slightly at the mention of groping.

"I doubt it." The genin said dismissively. "You seem impervious to serious injury no matter how many times those women kicked the crap out of you." Did pervs have some sort of defensive jutsu that they keep amongst themselves for times of danger? Naruto would have to look into that.

"When you have been beaten by Tsunade herself, no other beating can even come close!" The blond was fascinated by how his master could feel pride in those words. "Tsunade is scarier than all of those women put together, and that's only when she runs out of sake!" Jiraiya inwardly cringed at the last time Tsunade ran out of sake when he was around.

Naruto remained silent as a thought came to him. Jiraiya's mentioning of the Fifth Hokage reminded Naruto of why he was even here with the white-haired sage in the first place. He frowned slightly. While it was always fun to laugh at Jiraiya when he gets caught by women, that's not why they left the village with the intent to be gone for over two years.

"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto's obnoxious voice broke through the peaceful silence that Jiraiya was entranced in. "When are we finally going to start my training?"

It has already been a week since they left the village and the blond genin was starting to get restless. He needed to get stronger as fast as possible. So many people were counting on him.

Jiraiya quietly weighed his options. Ignore him for now or make up some lie to trick the less intelligent blond.

"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto's impatience didn't give the sage that opportunity.

Jiraiya clamped his hand over his ears in an attempt to drown out his obnoxious underling but to no avail. 'Where's a mute button when you need one.' He thought in exasperation.

"Once I get enough material to complete a few more chapters, we will start your training! I Promise!" he pleaded. He thought for a moment, trying to calculate how much peeping that would take. "I'd say another week or two should be enough." He added hoping that would be enough to calm down his student. He didn't think it would, but he was an optimist.

Naruto groaned in annoyance. That was definitely not the answer he was hoping for.

"Come on, Ero-Sennin. We both know I need to get stronger as fast as possible." His mind wandered to Sasuke. He gritted his teeth at the thought of him being with that snake Orochimaru. "I have promises to keep! I can't just wait around all day wasting time!"

Jiraiya gave the boy a questioning glance. "Oh? Just what exactly are you promising people?" He asked genuinely curious.

Naruto's eyes hardened. "I promised Sakura that I would bring back Sasuke. I have to get stronger so I can get him away from that creep Orochimaru!" The conviction in his voice spoke volumes about the boy's commitments he makes to his friends.

"Naruto." The wise jonin began. "You need to forget about Sasuke. You have more important things to worry about. The Akatsuki will be coming after you and I can't always be by your side to protect you." He knew his student wouldn't like the idea of forgetting about his friend but he needed to at least try.

"So, train me! If they are so strong then you need to make me stronger!" The blond purposely avoided any mention of Sasuke, much to the annoyance of his white-haired master.

'I will bring him back. No matter what.' The young genin thought defiantly.

Jiraiya sighed. He expected that he wouldn't be able to get through to the boy. He was the exact same way when he was younger. "Naruto, I understand that you're in a rush, but we've got plenty of time. Two years is more than enough time to make you into a great shinobi."

"But why can't we use all the time?" The boy asked hopefully. "You could just stop your research and help me get as strong as possible. It shouldn't be that hard to write a book, anyway."

Jiraiya went silent. Maybe Naruto had a point after all. With the threat of the Akatsuki looming over the shinobi world, wouldn't it make sense to train the boy as intensely as possible in the amount of time they have? 'Maybe I've been going about this all wrong.' He thought to himself.

The sage let out a sigh. 'The only problem is I need the money that this book will make to fund my spy network. If only I had a bit more time to finish it, then I could focus all of my time on making Naruto into a splendid shinobi.'

He tried to think of what to do as his mind finally finished processing the last thing his student had said. His mouth twisted into a tiny smirk. 'I only need a little more time, Naruto.' He thought to himself. He needed to play this perfectly. Naruto's natural competitive fire can help him buy a little extra time so he can finish his book.

"Not that hard to write a book?" The well-known author repeated condescendingly. "Oh, so you think that you can do a better job than me, gaki?" He asked with the mischievous smirk still plastered across his face.

Naruto's eyes burned with a fire that Jiraiya loved to see. That competitive fury that drives the young boy to new heights. It's that same fire that appeared when Tsunade challenged Naruto to learn the Rasengan in under a week. And, of course, he prevailed. The blond didn't even hesitate with his answer.

"No…"

Jiraiya had to conceal a small frown that desperately wanted to show itself. He was shocked. 'Wha- '

"I know I can do a better job than you!" Naruto finished smugly, cutting off the sage's inward surprise.

Jiraiya allowed himself a small chuckle. 'That's more like it.' He thought fondly. Now it was time for his challenge. Something he knew Naruto would never be able to turn down. A challenge was just another opportunity to show everyone how great he was. 'However, this is something completely out of your comfort zone, kid.'

"Fine, then. How about we make a deal then, Naruto?" This was a completely different Jiraiya from the one Naruto was with earlier today. Gone was the goofy pervert getting caught and beaten up by women; this Jiraiya meant business.

"I'm listening." The genin began, slightly unnerved. He still wasn't totally used to serious mode Jiraiya. "What is it?"

"You said you wanted to train seriously, right?" He inwardly chuckled at his own phrasing. That would easily catch Naruto's attention.

Naruto's eyes sparkled at the thought of intense training. So much so that he had already forgotten that unnerved feeling serious Jiraiya gave him. "Of course! I need to get stronger as fast as possible so I can save everyone!"

"Okay…" The sage began slowly. Naruto leaned forward in anticipation as he awaited his master's words. "I promise to devote every second we have to train you as hard as possible if…"

"If…" The impatient blond repeated eagerly.

"If you write your own novel and are able to get it published through my publisher." The Sannin finished with a large smile.

…

Complete and total silence.

Just as Jiraiya was about to break the silence to ask if his student was okay, Naruto voiced his opinions on the sage's challenge.

"What?" The blond blurted out in shock. He had not expected this. "What do you mean? You can't be serious!" Now while Naruto isn't exactly known for his modesty, if his time in the academy taught him anything it's that he was lacking in pretty much anything that had to do with academics. Writing is one of them.

"Oh, I'm very serious. Believe it." He said in a mocking tone. "Just a minute ago you said you'd be the superior writer between the two of us. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, gaki?"

Naruto huffed at Jiraiya's mocking of his catchphrase. It didn't sound nearly as cool when it came out of the old man's mouth. Naruto was just about to retort when Jiraiya cut him off.

"Oh, and before you hastily agree to all of this, there's something else you need to know." The Sannin continued as he ignored the dagger-like stare that he pupil was giving him.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" He asked in annoyance. There couldn't still be more to this challenge, could there? He was already asking the boy to do something he had never thought of doing. What else could there be?

"There is one more stipulation to this little bet of ours."

"Sti-pu-la-tion?" He sounded the word out slowly in confusion. His face scrunched up as he contemplated the meaning behind the very large word. "What's that mean?" He resigned.

Jiraiya let out an exasperated sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he debated if he should buy the boy a dictionary. This kid has a long way to go before he can become a competent writer.

"Never mind, Naruto." He did his best to brush off his pupil's confusion so he could continue. "What I'm saying is, you know what you get if you win. What happens when you lose?" The smugness in the man's voice did not go unnoticed by the blond.

Naruto scoffed. The phrasing of his master's words irritated. He was always written off before he was even given a chance to show everyone what he was made of. He pushed down any apprehension he had going forward. He was going to do this.

"No matter what it is I won't back down!" He exclaimed with a reenergized fire in his eyes. "There are too many people counting on me to quit now!"

The boy's determination reminded the Sannin of himself when he was younger. 'I don't think I've been giving him enough credit.' He thought fondly to himself. 'Maybe he can handle more intense training than I had initially thought. After all, the kid's got guts.' Jiraiya admired the guts to never give up more than anything else.

Jiraiya stared off into space for what seemed like a few minutes and it was starting to weird the blond out. He reached up with his hand and waved it in front of his master's face. Still no response.

"Uh, Ero-Sennin?" He asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

The sage blinked a couple of times and snapped out of his daze, only to realize Naruto had closed the already small distance between them and was standing on a chair so their faces were only inches apart. It was safe to say the boy was a little too close for comfort.

"You okay, Perv?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched slightly as he felt Naruto's breath slam against his face and into his nostrils. 'What a surprise smells like ramen.' He thought to himself, slightly disgusted.

Jiraiya took a few steps back to distance himself from his pupil's ramen breath and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that." He began. Naruto noticed that Jiraiya's face shifted back into what he called serious Jiraiya mode. Something told him that he wasn't going to like what the Sannin had to say next.

"I know how important your friends are to you, Naruto. However, if you lose this bet, as your master I forbid you from trying to go after Sasuke."

He was curious to see his student's reaction to this stipulation. Last time they had this conversation Naruto didn't listen to the wise hermit at all. He was dead set on bringing his friend back to the Leaf. Would he continue to ignore the words of his master or, with the circumstances now different, would he instead honor them? The sage did not know.

Meanwhile, Naruto's mind was racing. Had he heard wrong? How could he even ask him something like that? Sasuke was his best friend! He glanced up at the older man's face and the expression written across it told him that he had heard perfectly clear.

'W-What do I do?" He asked himself in desperation. 'If I want to get strong enough to save Sasuke… there's a chance I won't even be allowed to try and save him at all if I fail.'

Jiraiya felt slightly bad as he watched the inner turmoil his blond companion was going through. The truth was that no matter the outcome of this bet the sage has already committed to training Naruto as intensely as he could. He just figured the blond would give up in a few weeks and that would give Jiraiya enough time to finish his book. However, with this added wrinkle it may have just become a lot more complicated.

'Maybe this will be good for him. Show me how much you've grown, Naruto.' He truly did only want what was best for his godchild.

"T-This is probably the biggest decision of my life." The blond was finally able to find his words after a few moments of silence. Despite the almost impossible choice that Jiraiya has given him, he doesn't hold it against his master. After all, given the sage's own history with his former friend Orochimaru, there's probably no one else in the world that understands the Naruto better.

"So, what will it be, Naruto? Is it a deal?" He asked carefully. He awaited his answer with an outstretched fist.

Their eyes slowly met and Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly at what he saw. The piercing stare of Naruto made him feel as if he were swirling back in time. Those blue eyes gleaming with confidence and excitement made him remember his late student of many years ago, Minato. The prospect of a new challenge was too much for The Fourth Hokage to pass up, and it seems he passed that on to his only child.

The young blond has yet to even open his mouth but Jiraiya already knew what his answer was going to be. It was written across the boy's face.

"I'll do it!" Naruto yelled with all the enthusiasm he could muster. He reached out with his own hand and fist bumped Jiraiya's.

Jiraiya smiled and chuckled at his pupil's steely confidence. "Well, of course, you will, gaki! It would be no fun if you quit before it even started!" Seems like Naruto's enthusiasm was contagious as Jiraiya felt himself get caught up in the moment.

"Just you wait. I will win no matter what!" The blond exclaimed as he watched his sensei

Jiraiya dug into one of his bags that were littered around the room. After a moment, he took out a stack of paper and a pen. He came back and handed them to his protégé. "If you're so confident, why don't you show me if you have what it takes to be a world-renowned author like me." He said with a cocky grin.

The boy swiftly took the materials and stuck his tongue out at the older man. "I'll show you!" He looked down at the blank paper. He blinked… and blinked some more. A sudden realization struck him.

He twitched a little as he started to get more and more anxious. Naruto did his best to hide it but his master could see the sudden change in the genin's demeanor. What could be getting him so worked up?

Despite all his boasting and unshakeable confidence, Naruto didn't have the slightest clue about what his story would be about. 'Me and my big mouth…'

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 **(Added 12/6/18)**

 **AN: Welcome all new readers! This is a story that has been on my mind for nearly 5 years now. The first draft I had of this fanfic all those year ago was admittedly atrocious. But, and I'm being hopeful on this one, I believe that this first chapter is much better than anything I wrote before. Well, at least by my standards.**

 **Important:** **Due to this being a Fic beginning at the time-skip, it will take some time before the plot begins to pick up. I want to spend a good amount of time developing Naruto's character and his abilities. I've never been a fan of when stories don't show his development, and suddenly we fast forward and he's a completely different person and insanely overpowered. So, what I'm trying to say is, if you dislike pacing on the slower side, be patient. It'll get there. Trust me.**


	2. Shadow Clone Scholar

"You know I don't need you to be here, right?" The blond didn't even try to hide his annoyance as he glanced over in the direction of his master.

Jiraiya kept silent and his face remained stoic as if he had not even heard the blond. He was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed just… watching the boy. It was honestly starting to creep Naruto out a little.

He sat there with an analytical gaze, but it was obvious that he enjoyed making his protégé uncomfortable. The small smirk that had appeared on his face was proof of that. He shifted slightly in his chair, but his eyes remained fixated on his student.

The boy huffed and looked back down at his paper while he tried to ignore his sensei's presence. However, looking down at his paper only reminded him that he had not written a single word in the three hours he had been sitting there. 'I'm doomed…' he thought to himself in despair.

"I'm just here in case you need any advice." The Sannin spoke his first words in hours. "I'm an experienced author, after all. My wisdom is invaluable, it would be stupid to not ask me any questions." He finished with a shrug.

Naruto scoffed. "Liar! Whenever you train me you always leave me by myself!" He pointed an accusing finger at his master before continuing. "Now that you have something to lose you're suddenly all supportive. I don't buy it!" He crossed his arms across his chest and cast an accusing frown at his sensei.

Despite looking a little guilty, the sage brushed off the boy's words. The kid was partially right. Jiraiya would love nothing more than to walk his pupil through the steps of his training, but that could be more harmful than helpful to the blond in the long run. Naruto needs to understand that to become a great ninja, you must be able to figure things out on your own. You can't have your hand held through every step and expect to grow and become stronger.

"Fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted!" The dignified sage stuck his tongue out in a childish manner. He stood up to leave, but before he left he reached into his pocket and placed something on the table beside him. Naruto couldn't help but notice the large grin the Sannin had on his face. "See ya!" He said with a wave as he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Naruto's eyebrow rose in curiosity but he refused to move from his seat. He didn't trust the grin that he saw one bit. Upon further inspection from afar the mystery object was revealed to be a book. 'It's just a book, anyway.' He thought to himself dismissively. That, however, did not sate Naruto's growing curiosity.

Whatever book it was, Jiraiya just put it there to mess with the blond. That much was obvious. Despite this obvious fact, it was doing its job. For whatever reason he felt compelled to see what it was that the Sannin had left him.

Naruto glanced back down at his blank paper. He sighed. He recalled Jiraiya's willingness to give him advice, something he was now regretting not asking for. Maybe that's what the book was there for. "It's worth a shot. Got nothing to lose, I guess." He said aloud to himself.

He stood up to get a better look and his face scrunched up in annoyance. He recognized the cover of the book immediately. Jiraiya had placed his latest Icha-Icha book on the table for the boy. "That idiot. I knew it was gonna be something that wouldn't help me." He grumbled to himself. "Like I would actually read one of his pervy books."

He would've ignored the book without a second thought but there was something else about it that caught his attention. He walked closer to the book to get a better look.

'A note?' He reached down and picked up the book. He started to read the note and instantly regretted his decision.

'I'll be gone for a few days, so here's a little bit of inspiration for your book in case you need it… try not to make a mess while I'm gone, gaki.'

He dropped the book as his eye twitched. A bright red blush creeped up his face and enveloped his cheeks.

"Dirty old man…" Naruto was wrong about there being nothing to lose. He lost a bit of his innocence reading that note.

He gave himself a few moments to recover from the images his mind had created for him. He sat back down and continued to stare at the blank paper in hopes of getting a wealth of sudden inspiration. After a few moments of nothing a feeling of hopelessness started to creep its way up his spine.

What if he just didn't have the ability to write a novel? How would he tell Sakura that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise and bring Sasuke back because he couldn't write a stupid book?

"I never expected this to be so hard!" He dropped his head down on the desk with a thud. Naruto knew he didn't know how to write, but when Jiraiya challenged him all he could think about was winning. This caused him to accept the bet before he had fully processed it. "I don't even have an idea for what my book will be about, either. What was I thinking?"

He glanced out the window. The dark skies let him know just how late it was. "It's already dark out?" he asked himself with a yawn. "Maybe I'll have some better luck tomorrow. No use in staying up when I haven't gotten anywhere all day."

He walked over to the couch and plopped down. He sighed contently as he sunk into the soft cushions. The blond kicked his sandals off and closed his eyes. 'I wonder where Ero-Sennin is...' He thought to himself as he drifted off into slumber. He fell asleep in what seemed like seconds.

* * *

-Early Next Morning-

"I don't think that's how it's supposed to be written." One high-pitched voice said loudly.

"What do you mean?" The same high-pitched voice asked in confusion. "How else am I supposed to write this out?"

The Naruto clones looked at one another and blinked, both of their identical faces scrunched up in complete confusion. Surrounding those two were eight more Naruto's. The ten Naruto's were split up in groups of two, making a total of five groups. One Naruto in each group was responsible for writing down any ideas that they may have, while the other's job was to simply say whatever came to his mind in hopes that it would give them an idea.

"How am I supposed to know?" The other Naruto shot back in slight annoyance. "I'm you, I can't know something you don't."

"Well then why do you think I'm writing it the wrong way?" The other blond retorted in just as much annoyance as his doppelganger.

"Because, we're dumb." The clone said causally with a small shrug.

The vast truth in his words caused the other nine Naruto's to all stop what they were doing and nod their heads in agreement.

After nearly two hours of trying to use his clones to help him get an idea, the real Naruto had had enough. He stood up and looked at his copies with a frustrated expression on his face. However, there was a silver lining to his frustration. Even though he and his clones made no progress on the story, this did make the blond realize something.

"We are dumb." He began with a small smile. "We've been trying to rush and get this story finished, but we don't even know how to write." He watched one by one as each clone realized that he was right.

"So, what are you saying?" One of the clones questioned. It appears not all the clones understood what he meant.

Naruto shot the clone an annoyed glance. He was aware that he wasn't the smartest of shinobi, but talking to his very own clones reminded him just how dense he was. "It means that I have to learn how to write properly before I can even start this book." He didn't like what just came out of his mouth but he knew that it was something he had to do.

The other blonds winced at the implications of the original Naruto's words. "That's going to take forever, though..." One of the clones said what the others were also thinking. The longer it took to write this book, the less time the blond would be able to train to face off against the Akatsuki.

"Yeah…" The original blond said in a sad voice. "But don't you guys worry! I'll study my butt off and have you guys back here to help me before the week it over! Believe it!" All nine of his clones smiled back at him with renewed confidence. They believed they have what it takes to write a book.

Naruto dispersed his clones in eight plumes of smoke. When the smoke cleared a single clone remained. He had a confused look on his face as he glanced over at the real blond. "Uh, why am I still here?" He asked with his face scrunched up in confusion.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "I need you to go into town and get me some books that will help me learn how to write." He explained as he reached into his pocket and threw the clone his frog wallet, Gama. "I figured while you did that I could make some instant ramen for lunch and by the time I finished you'd just be getting back here.

The clone gave his summoner an irritated look, but shrugged his shoulders in agreement. "Fine. Just don't expect me to rush back here it's been a while since I've been able to walk around and get some fresh air." He stuffed the very full frog wallet into his pocket and made his way to the door.

Naruto's eye twitched in slight annoyance. 'My clones are so stubborn. Talking to his master like that who does he think he is? He's lucky I'm nice…'

The blond shook his head away from those thoughts and brought his attention back to the task at hand. He needed to figure out a way to read all the books his clone brought back as quickly as possible while also retaining all the knowledge within them. He said he'd be able to do it in a week but he was beginning to doubt his own confident claim.

"I'm only one person… how can I do all of this by myself in such a short amount of time." He thought to himself desperately. If only he knew the answer to his dilemma was out buying his books this very second…

The blond clone happily strolled through the streets of Tanzaku Town. He had been stuck in the hotel room for the entire day and it was refreshing to get out for a little. He stretched out his neck, careful not to drop the plastic bag he had cradled in his arms. It contained a dozen books that will hopefully be the key to helping Naruto write a full-fledged novel.

'Hopefully these are the kinds of books he had in mind.' He thought as he reached into the bag and took out one of the books he bought. The cover read 'Writing for Dummies'. 'This is definitely the book for us!' He allowed himself a small chuckle at that.

He took his eyes off the new book and looked around the bustling marketplace that made Tanzaku Town such an interesting place to explore. Despite the town having suffered the aftermath of the fight between the Sannin a few months back, the townspeople still had smiles on their faces. The marketplace was bustling with customers looking to purchase food, antiques, and other interesting little trinkets. However, many tourists are initially disappointed shortly after arriving when they realize the towns famous castle is no longer standing at its center.

Jiraiya has insisted that this be their first stop, much to the genin's confusion. After Naruto's constant pestering Jiraiya told him that it was because this town had plenty of beautiful women for his research. They would stay in Tanzaku Town for a few months while Jiraiya finished up his book and then they would continue their travels.

The blond smiled as he recalled these memories that technically weren't even his. He knew exactly what the real Naruto was feeling and he took those emotions as his own.

Even though the real Naruto wanted to train more than anything, he still enjoyed spending time with Jiraiya. The man may be a hopeless pervert, but the strength and wisdom he possessed was admirable. He was the closest thing to a father the boy had ever had.

The blond clone was ripped from his thoughts as an enticing smell entered his nostrils. His head shot up and was delighted to see that there were several food stands all around him. Each one carrying an assortment of delicious looking foods. His mouth watered while he rubbed his growling stomach.

An evil smile crept onto his face as his patted his pants pocket that contained Gama. "A clones gotta eat too."

Multiple orders of food later and the blond let out a burp of satisfaction. "Man, all of that was so good." he said to himself happily while he bit into a piece of his grilled fish on a stick as he made his way home. Despite his stomach being full of food, this was all that remained of his intense food binge and he was determined to finish what he started. He had to because once he got back and the real Naruto saw what state his frog wallet was in… well let's just say this might be the last time this clone ever got to enjoy his day this much.

He reached into his bag of books that was now slung over his shoulder and took out the book he was looking at earlier. 'Wonder how long it'll take him to read all these books.' He thought to himself as he took another bite out of the delicious fish. He curiously opened it to the first page and began reading.

He continued to walk down the road with his eyes glued to the pages. The clone was slightly surprised by the contents of the book. Naruto disliked reading with a passion, so he wholeheartedly expected to hate every minute of reading it. To the clone's surprise, it wasn't that bad of a read. 'This is actually kind of interesting.' The clone thought to himself. Perhaps the blond had found an affinity for writing that he wasn't aware of.

The doppelganger finished the last of his fish and lazily threw the stick over his shoulder. Before he knew it, he had read the entire first chapter of the book. It appeared to be a basic introduction into the world of grammar and literary devices. Despite it being filled with very basic concepts, a lot of this information was brand new to the blond. 'And this is just the beginning. A lot of the other books I bought are way more advanced than this one.'

"It's about time you got back! What took you so long?" The loud voice made the clones head shoot up. His eyes immediately locked with the original Naruto's. He had been so lost in thought that he didn't even realize he was already in front of the hotel. "I was about to come looking for you. Thought you might've gotten lost out there."

The clone scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure I got enough books." He explained as he reached into his pocket and tossed back the wallet to the original blond. It was technically the truth. The clone casually left out the part where he ate a ton of food. Naruto didn't need to know that part.

He caught it and quickly slipped it back into his own pocket. He thought Gama felt a little lighter than he should be but he just assumed he was imagining it. "So, these are the books?" He asked as he took the plastic bag from his clone.

"Yep! Just like you asked, boss!" The clone said proudly.

Naruto smirked. "Great job! I'll start reading these right away!" The confidence in his voice covered up what he was really feeling. He was still worried about how long it would take for him to finish all the books.

The clone saluted his master and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto was about to head back inside but something made him stop. A rush of memories flooded his mind. Memories of him eating that were not his own. His eye twitched as he reached back into his pocket and pulled out Gama. He was scared to open it, fearful of what he might find. He popped it open and his greatest fear was confirmed. "Half empty…" He said sadly. "That bastard. He didn't even bring me back any…"

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Wait, how do I have his memories?" He said aloud as if someone would enlighten him, although no one else was around. "I wasn't there with him."

He concentrated. In the back of his mind there was something else there. He could feel it. Some other memory waiting to be accessed. He shut his eyes tight hoping that it would help put everything into focus. He reached for it and grabbed the memory. He eyes shot open and he quickly reached into the bag that his clone had brought him. He took out the book on top and flipped it open. He skimmed through the first chapter and to his amazement he recalled everything that was contained in it.

"What the…" His voice trailed off as he tried to piece all this information together. Somehow, he knew of everything his clone did while he was out. He was even able to retain the information within the book that the clone had read.

'Have I always had this ability when using my clones? He thought to himself. The gears in his brain started to slowly turn. 'I can just use my clones to help me read all these books! This is great! I won't even need a week to finish all of these.' His grip on the bag containing the books tightened. He felt a wave of relief wash over him. He quickly ran inside, a large smile plastered across his face.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Once inside his room he quickly summoned 11 clones. Each clone carrying the same determined look as the original. "You guys know what to do." He said gesturing to the books he had neatly stacked on the table. "There's a book for each of us. Grab one, read it, and then when you're done swap books with someone else. The more times we read each one the better chance I'll have of remembering it."

This Naruto is very different from the blond little knucklehead that was in the ninja academy. When he was in the academy just the thought of reading made him feel sick to his stomach. This time around, he felt something else. Sure, the drive and determination he felt when confronted with a challenge was there. He wanted to write this book and shove it in Jiraiya's face more than anything, but that wasn't all.

He recalled what his clone felt when he finished reading the first chapter of 'Writing for Dummies'. "I might actually enjoy this…" He mumbled to himself so lowly that his clones couldn't even hear him. They had already each grabbed a book and started reading. He shrugged.

"Guess I'll just grab a book then, too."

* * *

"I think I'm finally finished…" The aspiring author said as he closed one of the books he bought for what he hoped was the last time. He let out a relieved sigh.

Naruto squinted as a bright light shined in his eyes. He placed the book down on the desk and glanced over at the window in the room and was surprised to see that the sun was already up. "Did we really study the entire night?" He said to himself quietly. The genin yawned loudly as he stretched his tired limbs. He looked over at the sleeping clones that littered the hotel floor and chuckled. Most of them were drooling and a pair of Naruto's were even cuddled up against one another. They looked content despite the funny position they were in.

He began to reflect on the past couple of days. 'If I had known about this back in the academy maybe my grades wouldn't have been so awful.' He mused.

The method of using his clones to speed up his learning worked better than he could have ever dreamed. He was a little apprehensive at first, fearful that the first time was just a fluke and that it wouldn't work. That feeling of fear quickly subsided after he put his idea to the test the very first time. The amount of information he acquired was more than he learned in the academy 1000 times over. And that was just a few hours of reading!

The past 3 days the pack of blonds had been studying relentlessly. However, this was the longest amount of time they had read in one sitting. Normally, they would study for a few hours before he eventually dispelled the clones. Naruto did this so he could take a break while his mind gathered and processed all the information he and his clones had learned.

"There isn't any point in waking them up." Naruto stood up and dispelled his jutsu. Clouds of smoke subsequently filled the room as the clones puffed out of existence. The blond then began to walk over to open the nearest window in hopes that it would help disperse the smoke quicker.

He stumbled. "Wha...?" His vision started to get blurry and his balance began to fade. He grabbed his head as a shooting pain suddenly ripped through it. It felt as though his brain had swelled up to the point that his skull could barely contain it anymore. The pressure behind his eyes was so great that it felt like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

It was all too much for his young mind to take. He couldn't hold himself up anymore. He started falling, desperately trying to grab at something that would keep him upright. He fell unconscious before he even hit the ground.

THUMP

* * *

"N…to."

It was very faint but someone was calling his name. He could hear it, but he just couldn't pinpoint the source. The last thing he remembered was that he was about to open the window when suddenly everything went black. Everything was still black.

"Naruto!" The voice boomed again. This time it felt much closer.

Jiraiya's apprentice began to stir lightly. The sage could see his student's eyes moving ever so slightly behind his closed eyelids. He let out a big sigh of relief. 'I'm not sure what happened, but I'm glad I got here when I did. It doesn't seem like he's been out for very long.'

He noticed that there were quite a few books that littered the floor all around the blond. He immediately recognized what they were for. 'Well, well. Seems like he is taking this little wager serious after all.' The white-haired sage was certainly impressed. Despite the resolve his pupil had shown earlier, he half expected the kid to get frustrated and quit. However, this did not make his confidence falter. He still believed he was going to win.

"Ero…Sennin?" Came a groggy voice just beneath him. The genin's eyes were still glazed over, a sign that he was still very much out of it.

The aforementioned perv allowed himself a small smile at the sight of his god-child being okay. "Well, look who's finally up. Do you have any idea what time it is? No one said you could sleep in, gaki." He teased lightly. The boy didn't need to know how worried he really was. That would be much too embarrassing for the sage to admit.

The teasing hit its mark. The blond vigorously shook his head and shot to hit feet. The speed at which he moved slightly surprised Jiraiya. He was expecting it to be a bit longer before the kid was up on his feet again.

"Who are you to talk, you old perv?" He grumbled. "Last time I checked you sleep in all of the time."

Despite the trueness of those words, he brushed them off. There was something much more pressing that he needed to know about.

"Yeah, yeah, gaki." He said dismissively. "Tell me, what happened? When I came back you were unconscious on the ground. Is everything okay?" The concern is his voice was evident even though he did his best to hide it.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" The boisterous blond said as his put his hands behind his head in his trademark stance. "I just got a little dizzy, that's all!" While he may be stretching the truth a bit he really did feel fine. Because of this, he convinced himself that it was nothing to worry about. He didn't want to make his teacher worried either.

The look his sensei gave him, however, let him know that he wasn't buying it.

"Okay, okay." He resigned with a sigh. "The last thing I remember was that I had been studying with my clones the entire night and when I dispelled them my vision got really burry and I guess that was when I passed out." He explained. Hopefully his wise teacher had an explanation for it all, because he was drawing a blank.

The older man's eyes widened slightly, but his pupil didn't notice. "Reading with your clones?" He put his hand on his chin as he contemplated what this could mean. Or, at least, that's what it looked like to Naruto. In reality, Jiraiya already knew exactly what had happened.

'I guess he figured out what his clones are really capable of. Not bad.'

"How many clones did you make?"

"11." Was the simple response.

"Naruto." He began slowly. I don't think you should use your clones like that anymore." He was stern. There was no room for debate on this, it seemed.

"What?! Why?!" This wasn't fair! He figures out an awesome way to use his clone but he's not allowed to use it anymore!?

"It put too much stress on your brain. That's why you passed out. Your mind can only handle so much at once. You overloaded it."

Naruto was going to retort back, but nothing came out. He knew his teacher was right he just didn't want to admit it. The benefits of using his clones in such a way were very high, but he was fully aware he could damage his mind if he did it continuously. He grumbled lowly to himself.

"However." Jiraiya's voice cause the blond to look up from his brooding. "I think it'll be okay if you use no more than 5 clones and no longer than 3 hours at a time." He finished with a smile.

His student's eyes lit up in joy as he hugged his Master out of gratitude. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah." The Sannin said dismissively. The blond still wouldn't let go. "Get the hell off me, gaki…"

* * *

 **(A/N) -** It took me way to long to get this second chapter out. I've just been so busy with other things that I haven't had the time. I can't promise consistent uploads but ill definitely do my best. I hope you enjoy. Thanks.


	3. Looming Shadows

After several days of studying his butt off alongside his pack of clones, the spiky-haired genin felt he was finally capable of writing a somewhat coherent piece of literature. His comprehension of spelling, grammar, literary devices, and plot construction was at higher levels than he ever thought possible. While he still had a long way to go before he mastered the craft of writing, he believed that he would continue to get better once he began putting pen to paper. Like being a ninja you can develop all of the skills you want, but without proper field experience, those skills were meaningless. It had all been surprisingly easy to grasp for him. He was unsure about whether this was simply because of his use of clones to expedite the process, or if he truly had some natural affinity for writing that he was unaware of until now.

He sat cross-legged in the middle of the room with his hands resting on his lap. The energetic blond let out a frustrated sigh while staring intently at the ground. He shifted slightly, leaned back and placed his arms on the ground behind him, propping himself up so he didn't fall backward.

While all of this new knowledge was great and all, there was a caveat. 'There's not much use in knowing how to write if I have no idea what to write about.' He thought, slightly dejected. His ability to write had improved exponentially, yes, but knowing how to do something does not mean you have the ability to apply it. Technical abilities are much easier to obtain than natural creativity. Both are necessary tools that an author must possess to make an interesting story. "I still don't know what my story is gonna be about…"

Naruto has begun thinking about possible story ideas almost immediately after he and his clones had finished their study session. Initially, he thought it was a brilliant idea to keep the clones around so they can help him on deciding a topic for his novel. However, that soon proved to be a very bad idea. Naruto was hopeful at first until one of his clones said their story had to be about ramen and only ramen. He was practically insistent on it. To make matters even worse, all of his clones agreed with the stupid idea! Before he knew it, he was having a screaming match with his clones about how ramen could not be a topic for any respectable story. They aren't writing a cookbook! The exchange got a little heated and one of his clones had to be forcibly dispelled with a smack to the head. After that idea went south, it was up to a singular Naruto to come up with the foundation of his story.

So far, after several days of trying his best to think of something, the results were not looking too good. He had nothing.

"What do people even read about?!" He yelled out in exasperation. The voice echoed back to him from the walls of the empty hotel room. The blond was suddenly regretting never reading a book his entire life.

"Gotta think." He repeated to himself as he rubbed his temples, praying for some sort of inspiration to pop into his head. He glanced over at the book Jiraiya left him that was still resting on the table. He shuddered. 'Not that kind of inspiration.' He thought to himself dryly.

As if on cue, Jiraiya walked through the front door. Naruto's head swung around to see who was responsible for the disturbance. When he saw it was just his master, he huffed. "What are you doing back already? Finally tired of staring at women for a living?" He asked mockingly.

Jiraiya looked the blond dead in the eyes, his round orbs blazing with a nearly unmatchable fierceness that his student had only seen from him a few times.

"How could you even say that?" He deadpanned. His tone was so serious that Naruto had to hold in his laughter. But this was no laughing matter to the white-haired sage. "The female body is one of utmost beauty, my eyes will never get tired from seeing their delicate figures swing and bounce around in a hot spring…" He trailed off, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks.

Naruto's eye twitched. You would think after spending so much time with his teacher he would be used to the ridiculous things that come out of the Sannin's mouth. However, you would be very wrong. The genin is continuously surprised by just how excessively perverted and self-diluted his master can be sometimes. He allowed himself a faint smile at the sage's antics. 'He's never boring to be around, though.' He chuckled to himself.

"Why are you back already?" The blond repeated his first question, completely ignoring the sage's over-the-top reaction.

"Well, you see…" He began, but then trailed off. He scratched the back of his head and let out a small chuckle. "I-I just wanted to see how my little protégé was coming along. Make any progress yet?" His hand remained behind his head as he waited for an answer. His sudden interest in the well-being of his student didn't sound very convincing to the blond.

"You got caught by a bunch of women again, didn't you?" His student asked without an ounce of humor in his voice.

"Hehehe." Jiraiya turned around and revealed that he wasn't actually scratching the back of his head. He was attempting to conceal a rather large bump that he got when a woman, who was much stronger than she appeared, kicked him in the back of the head. "How did you know?" He asked weakly.

"When you said you came here for my benefit." Jiraiya sweat dropped. His student had so little faith in him. "Normally you stay out quite a bit later than this, so I figured there had to be a reason you had to come back. Which brought me to the conclusion that you pissed off a bunch of women and had to go into hiding while everything outside cooled down."

"Well, isn't someone a little sleuth." The older man shot back sarcastically. Jiraiya sat down on the ground roughly 8 feet away from the boy and eyed him curiously. "But seriously, how are things coming along?" He asked genuinely. Jiraiya seemed more interested in women at times, sure, but that wasn't the case. He cared deeply for the boy he just has a hard time showing it.

Naruto opened his mouth to tell his master that everything was going great and that his book would be completed in no time. But something stopped him. Normally, his bombastic confidence would erupt out of his mouth and alleviate the worries of the people around him. It was a different ball game this time. He was out of his comfort zone and he knew it. Maybe asking Jiraiya for some of that advice he was talking about earlier wouldn't be the worst thing in the world? Unless, of course, he pulls out that pervy book again.

"Actually, can I ask you a question, Ero-Sennin?" He asked with much less sassiness than he had during their prior exchange.

The change of tone was not lost on Jiraiya and he gave his pupil a questioning glance. "What is it, gaki?" He, too, asked with a much more serious tone than before. The sudden shift in conversation interested the Sannin.

"Why do you need to spy on women to write those books of yours?" When the blond genin refers to his sensei's books, it's normally an insult or said with a mocking tone. However, this was different. He was genuinely curious. The sage was the self-proclaimed 'Super Pervert', after all. The man didn't have a shameful bone in his body, there was no need to make up excuses if he wanted to spy on women. Why call it research if the only intention was to be a perv?

Jiraiya looked intently at the boy as he flashed a proud smile. "Why, to ensure that my novels become the masterpieces that they are, of course!" The ever-present pride he exuded when referring to his works was as strong as ever.

"Yeah." Began the blond, not taking the easy chance to insult his master once more. "But why do you need all of that peeping to write your book? I thought you were a 'literary genius.' Shouldn't you be able to write them without your research?" He teased his teacher lightly. Okay, maybe he couldn't resist taking a shot at the older man. God, he loved doing that.

Jiraiya continued on, not even seeming to notice that his genin disciple was making fun of him again. "Yes, but you should know that almost every successful author implements his own life experiences into their finest works. Not only can it assist them in telling a compelling story, but it also gives that story a very realistic feel to it." Despite the perverted undertone of Jiraiya's words, considering the type of books he writes, his words were very wise.

Naruto's eyes lit up. Of course, how could he have been so stupid? It was in front of him the entire time. His mind was spinning in a dozen different directions. He thought about his life, his childhood, how he was treated, all the pain that it caused him. And despite all of that hardship, he still wanted to become Hokage and protect those close to him. These were perfect elements he could incorporate into a cohesive story.

A hero. His story would be about a great, strong hero who protects those around him with a power that is difficult for him to control. A potentially dangerous power that causes even those that he saves to be wary of him and treat him as more of a nuisance than the hero he actually is. A hero that continues to protect even those who shun him.

Jiraiya, completely unaware of the explosion of inspiration he set off in the boy's head, stood up abruptly. "Well, I should get back to it." A hint of excitement laced his voice. "All of this talk about peeping has got me in the mood for some more research." At this point even Jiraiya was using the words 'peeping' and 'research' interchangeably.

Naruto tore himself away from his overflowing thoughts at the sound of his master's voice. Under normal circumstances, he would berate his perverted sensei for going back out to spy on women so soon after getting beaten up. However, this time he wanted Jiraiya to leave so he could write down all of his thoughts before they leave his brain, undisturbed. "Thanks for the advice. Don't get yourself killed." He said harshly with a wave.

"I can't die yet" He responded with a thumbs up as he opened the door. "I haven't seen enough women from the Cloud Village, yet. I hear they're gorgeous." He finished as he shut the door behind him.

Naruto shook his at the older man's antics. 'He may be goofy ninety-percent of the time, but he really helped me out.' He thought to himself. The boy finally felt like he would be able to make some actual progress. A wave of relief washed over him.

"Time to get to work! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Suddenly, there were now seven identical Naruto's in the small hotel room. Each of them had an identical determined expression on their face. Well, except for one…

"Don't you guys think it's kinda dumb that we're basically writing a story about ourselves? Like, how self-centered can we get? I really think that the story about ramen would be a bette-"

There was a low thud, followed by a 'poof'.

"Does anyone else have anything to say?" The original blond-haired genin looked at his clones. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes.

The five remaining clones shook their heads vigorously.

"Good! Let's get to work!"

"Okay!"

* * *

-Several Hours Later-

It turned out that this time around, using clones would be very beneficial. Even though he and the clones were all the same person, they were useful when he needed to bounce ideas around. His clones did not hold back any criticism when they thought an idea wasn't any good. It was very odd to be repeatedly called an idiot by yourself. The blond began to contemplate if he was that big of a jerk to his friends.

When you're on the exact same page as the people that you are working with, it allows you to be able to work like a well-oiled machine. That became apparent to the child when he saw just how much the group had completed in just a few short hours of work. Some of his clones even went as far as to help him outline the story, develop a setting, and name the main character. His main character's name would be Menma. Naruto's reasoning, you ask? Ramen. The irony of that occurrence eluded him.

The genin finally stopped writing and put down his pen as light shined through his hotel window, temporarily blinding him. He was surprised. The fact that is was light out meant he had stayed up the entire night. 'Maybe we were working for longer than I thought.' He thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes. After his vision returned to him, he looked around his room.

There were four other Naruto's littered all across the floor, sleeping soundly. What happened to the fifth, you ask? About mid-way through the writing session, the aforementioned clone got upset with the original Naruto. He claimed to have a good idea regarding the direction the story should go. However, his idea was shut down. Naruto, being the petty child he can sometimes be, clearly had clones who acted the same way. The disgruntled clone took it upon himself to read some of the book that Jiraiya had left behind. When he was found out, an angry Naruto quickly dispelled the rogue clone. However, that didn't stop the memories of the book to be transferred back to the original.

Naruto shuddered as he tried to shake off the images that the book caused to creep into his mind. 'I'm really starting to think that these clones are more trouble than they're worth.' He thought to himself, slightly annoyed.

The disciple of the toad sage yawned as the exhaustion was finally starting to catch up to him. He gathered what he had completed so far and glanced over it. Three decently-lengthy chapters of a rough draft were what they had completed in just one day. Considering Naruto was aiming for a story with about 10-12 chapters, this was a better start than he could have ever hoped for.

Words could not describe how much pride he felt at the moment. This was by far the best work he had ever done by himself. When attending the academy, never thought he'd be able to achieve this quality of writing on his own. Hell, at that time he had no interest in being able to learn how to write, at all. All he cared about was becoming Hokage. 'So much can change in just a few months.' He thought to himself fondly. For once, he could look back to something from his past and not feel dejected or sad. He wasn't thinking about Sasuke, or how he was treated for the first twelve years of his life. It was nice.

He dispelled his clones and hid his completed work from the prying eyes of his mentor. 'Can't have that nosey little perv finding out just how much I have done. I wanna see the look on his face when it's all completed.'

After making sure everything was well hidden, he glanced over at the clock and a groan escaped his lips. It read 8:30 AM, meaning he would barely be able to get any sleep before Jiraiya came back and forced him to wake up.

Despite his busy schedule peeping on girls all day, the sage still somehow found the time to make it his mission to ensure Naruto never slept in. If his pupil wasn't up by 9:00 AM, Jiraiya would retrieve the coldest river water he could find and dump it on the unsuspecting blond. The sage said it was a great way to get his student used to the life of being a full-fledged shinobi. Shinobi had to be alert and ready to wake up at a moment's notice to respond to potential enemies.

While that seemed like a reasonable explanation, Naruto didn't buy it. He knew his master just enjoyed annoying him. Otherwise, he wouldn't go out of his way to get borderline ice-water. Room temperature water, or even loud noises would do the trick just fine.

Naruto glanced back at the clock. Taking into account his 10-minute mental rant, he only had about 20 minutes to get ready for the return of his teacher.

…

…

…

Twenty minutes passed by quickly, and to no one's surprise, at 8:59 the door to the apartment opened slowly. A head surrounded by spiky white hair poked out from the opening. The lack of noise told the sage that his target was definitely asleep. Perfect. Sharp eyes scanned the room intently, trying to locate the sleeping figure. His eyes settled on a tuft of blond hair that was sticking out over the back of the couch. 'You make this too easy, gaki.' He thought to himself deviously.

Jiraiya crept slowly into the room, using every ounce of his renowned stealthy abilities. As he crept closer and closer to the wild-haired boy, he slowly reached into his pocket and took out one of his many storage scrolls. He slowly unraveled it, revealing the kanji for 'water'. 'This is gonna be good.' He mused.

The sage sprung forward with great agility and a devilish grin. The intent to ruin the genin's slumber was plastered on the Sannin's face.

…

He blinked. Instead of the goofy little apprentice, he was expecting to see, a Naruto lookalike scarecrow was on the couch, covered in a blanket to complete the effect of a sleeping child. "Huh?" Confusion evident in the man's voice. "What is this?"

'Bang!'

Jiraiya immediately regretted that question. His target, Naruto Uzumaki, the Leaf Village's number one prankster, appeared out of nowhere and smacked the great sage in the back of the head with a comically large frying pan.

Naruto laughed hysterically at the way the powerful leaf jonin crumpled to the ground. He clutched his sides in an attempt to alleviate the painful cramps his intense laughter was causing him. A large bump could already be seen forming on the back of his mentor's head.

"Ha!" The student shouted triumphantly, towering over the master. "That's what you get for trying to mess with me, Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya, who was still recovering from the surprise attack, just grumbled something incoherently.

Naruto continued to laugh at the expense of his master. His stomach grumbled. "All this fun has really given me an appetite." He continued teasingly. "I hope we have some ramen!" He joyfully made his way to the kitchen, already thinking about the noodle-laden deliciousness that was his favorite food.

"We don't." Jiraiya, who was partially recovered, was still nursing the back of his head. 'Why does everyone always hit me in the same spot.' He thought to himself humorlessly.

Naruto's nose scrunched up in disapproval. "Huh? Why not?!" This was simply unacceptable.

"Because you have to start eating things besides ramen. That stuff is no good for your health." Was his wise master's simple response.

Naruto frowned. "Well, what if I don't want to." The blond shot back defiantly.

"Too bad." Jiraiya had to me admit he somewhat enjoyed seeing the crushed look on the ramen fanatics face. "Besides, if you ever want to make it past 5ft tall, you're going to have to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods. It may seem sadistic now, but trust me, you'll thank me later."

Naruto shivered. "Ugh, that word. Don't ever say it again." He didn't even wanna think about it. While he certainly wanted to be taller, if he had to give up ramen in the process it wasn't worth it.

The sage facepalmed. "Nutritious is not a bad word, gaki." He continued as Naruto's face got even more twisted in discomfort at the second utterance of that evil word. "I'm not saying you can never eat ramen again, kid. All I mean is that you have to put other things in your body if you want to get taller, faster, and stronger."

"Okay." The blond said weakly. He just wanted to change the subject. All this talk about less ramen and more 'nutritious' foods was making him depressed.

The sage let out an exaggerated sigh. It wouldn't do him any good to press more. For the time being, he'd leave him alone about his eating habits.

"So…" The sage began innocently. "Get any writing done today?" He had a curious glint in his eye.

"Not really." The blond answered vaguely with a shrug. "You were right. Writing is a lot harder than I thought it would be." On the outside, he tried his best to look defeated, but on the inside, he was far from it. He had gotten a lot more work done today than he had ever thought possible, but he couldn't let his master know that. He wanted to hide his progress from the sage and crush his hopes all at once.

Jiraiya smirked, completely unaware of his disciple's intentions. "Well, one day you're going to realize that I'm always right!" He said proudly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah… right." The sarcasm in his voice was audible.

"Shut up, gaki…"

* * *

-A Couple Weeks Later-

Location: Unknown

It was dark, cold, and damp. It was relatively silent, except for the periodic sound of drops of water lightly thudding against the ground. Stalactites hung from the ceiling as water slowly ran down to their tips.

A lone figure stood in the center of the dark cave. However, there was something odd about this figure.

A stalactite hung right above the man, a water droplet was forming at its tip. The surface tension of the rock was doing its best to fight against gravity. The reservoir of water eventually became too big and the water droplet began falling, on a collision course with its target.

Only for the drop to… pass right through the figure?

The figure did not appear to be a solid being. The staticky, ethereal figure seemed to be some form of a hologram. He had spiky hair, and his face was heavily pierced with what appeared to be some sort of odd, black metal. Despite not being physically in the cave, he stood with a commanding authority that could still be felt. A type of authority that exuded power and demanded the respect of all who would stand before him.

And most of that power rested in the figure's eyes. The cave was dark, yes, but those eyes appeared to shine as brightly as the sun in that damp, little cavern. They were purple, with deep black circles going around the pupil to form a rippling pattern.

He has been standing there for several minutes. He had not made a sound or moved an inch since he had appeared.

"You're late." He finally said. Oddly enough, he was still alone.

As if on cue, a few seconds later, another figure rose slowly from the ground. This being differed vastly from the other. He was solid and had what appeared to be a something similar to a venus fly trap surrounding his body. Half of his body black, half white. Whatever it was, it did not appear to be human.

"Hehe. Sorry." The creature's voice was surprisingly light, almost playful. It did not match his appearance in the slightest. "I have a job to do and didn't want to leave early and potentially miss anything important." His demeanor also contrasted heavily with the individual he was talking to. He was playful and goofy, while the other was stoic and intense.

"I suppose you have a point." The hologram figure said after a short pause. "Let us be quick. What is your report, Zetsu?" It was clear by the way he spoke that he was the one who was in charge.

"Uh, well…" The one now named Zetsu began slowly, sounding unsure of himself. "Will you hurry up and spit it out." A much gruffer, agitated-sounding third voice cut in abruptly. "We don't have all day."

Three voices, but only two figures stood in the cave. A normal person would have reacted to this abnormality, but the hologram figure did not even twitch. "I agree with black Zetsu, what is your report?" He commanded, looking more intently at the left side of Zetsu's face.

"They seem to be stationary for the time being. And by the looks of it, they do not appear to be moving anytime soon." His goofy tone was replaced with a slightly more serious one as he relayed the findings of his espionage to his leader.

"Why do you say that?" The leader questioned, referring to the latter part of the report.

"None of their stuff is packed up. If they were planning on leaving soon, they would have begun readying some of their things for travel." Was his simple reply.

"Interesting." The ethereal figure said after a short pause. "I would have thought they'd be constantly moving from place to play to avoid being detected." He closed his eyes for a moment, appearing to give something some thought.

"Why don't we just move in now?" Zetsu's voiced caused his leader's rippled eyes to snap open. He eyed him curiously, waiting for him to continue. "He is by himself for most of the day and vulnerable, it would be easy." The white half of the creature spoke with such enthusiasm.

"There's no sign of him?" He asked cautiously.

"No. For several hours out of the day they are separated."

"You're a fool if you truly believe that." He spoke with a harsh, unforgiving tone. "Do not underestimate that man. It will be your undoing."

White Zetsu recoiled slightly at those words but did not say anything further. He knew to listen to his leader when he spoke.

"I do not believe this is the proper time to take action." The pierced man looked down at a puddle of water on the cave floor. When he spoke the water rippled ever so slightly. Not enough for the average human eye to notice, but his eyes were far from average. His gaze shifted back up to his subordinate. "Even if we were able to capture the nine-tails, we would not be able to seal him right away. You know this. And because we cannot allow him to die before then, we run the risk of the Leaf Village attempting to get him back before we have a chance to do anything else." Zetsu nodded, seemingly following his logic. "More importantly, as long as he is being protected by him, the nine-tails is untouchable."

The intent of his once vague words finally revealed it was obvious who this man was. He was the leader, or at least a very high ranking member, of the S-Class criminal organization, the Akatsuki. And their target? Naruto Uzumaki.

"He's really that strong, Pain?" Zetsu looked as if he was about to say something else, but the eyes of his leader caused him to stop. It was not his turn to speak yet.

"Yes," The now named Akatsuki leader, Pain, said. "However." He began slowly, several possibilities running through his mind. "If the opportunity ever presents himself, perhaps there is a chance we could move early." That was all he had to say on the matter, he had some things he needed to think about. "Continue your surveillance. Let me know of any significant updates." He turned away, signaling that their meeting had now come to a close.

"Understood." White and black said in unison. Their body slowly lowered back into the ground until they fully disappeared.

The hologram of the man named pain remained stationary in the middle of the cave. His eyes remained shut as he began to think about his past. For a split second, a brief flash of an indiscernible emotion flickered across his face. No. He felt nothing. He was sure of it.

"Jiraiya-sensei, huh? How nostalgic." The hologram disappeared, his words echoed in the now empty cave.

* * *

 **AN: I don't know what the reaction to these first few chapters will be. Some people may find them a little boring and uneventful, but personally the interactions between Naruto and Jiraiya are some of my favorite things about the series and I hope I replicated them in a way that all of you can enjoy. I have a lot of big ideas for the future of this story, I'm just not sure if my sub-par writing skills are up to the task. That, and my busy schedule, makes it difficult for me to promise any consistent uploading. (As you can see it took me over a year just to get this chapter out.) Then again, I doubt there are people losing sleep over me not uploading**

 **Reviews about your overall thought and opinions on the story so far would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!**


	4. And the Winner is

**(IMPORTANT) Make sure to also read the Author's Note located at the end of the chapter. It has some important questions I need you guys to answer in regard to upcoming chapters.**

 **AN: To avoid confusion, I want to be clear that the first sequence in this chapter takes place a few weeks after Naruto figured out what his novel was going to be about (At about the same time when the Akatsuki scene from the last chapter took place). This chapter jumps around a tad, but I think it's necessary to fit everything together in an understandable way.**

 **Please leave reviews (even if they're negative) so I know what you guys like and don't like about the story so far. Thanks!**

* * *

And the Winner is...

"Hey, Naruto! I'm going out to do some research, wanna come?"

Jiraiya heard a loud 'poof' and shortly after, Naruto walked into the room. He was nursing his cheek with an annoyed look on his face. "Why would I want to go out perving with you, Ero-Sennin?" He asked harshly.

His mentor noticed what looked like a bruise forming on his right cheek. He frowned. "What happened to you?" He asked with slight confusion.

Naruto just grumbled angrily about a clone 'calling him ugly.' Then after a few punches were thrown it was every Naruto for themselves. "It really makes no sense!" His outburst was slightly amusing to the older man. "He looks exactly like me!"

Jiraiya let out a sigh. "As much as I'd like to talk with you about your issues, there are beautiful women out there that I need to stare at." He thought about what he just said for a moment. "That didn't sound right…"

"Sounds right to me, because that's all you do." Came the young voice of his apprentice.

"Nuh-uh." His master shot back with a child-like tone. "I take notes!"

Naruto had no response to that. All he could do was put his face in his hands and wonder what it would be like to be trained by Orochimaru instead. 'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.' He mused.

"You know, gaki." Began Jiraiya, causing the boy to remove himself from his disturbing thoughts and look up at him. "You're gonna have to throw in the towel soon on this little bet of ours." His words caused the blond's face to scrunch up in annoyance. "While I really do enjoy watching you lose, we do need to get started on your training pretty soon. It has been a few weeks already and I haven't seen you make any progress on your book, at all. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but he was swiftly cut off by his mentor.

"I understand that you really want to go after your friend, but a deal is a deal. I'm still going to train you, of course. I'll just stick to the training regimen I initially had in mind, but Sasuke is now gonna be off limits. Understand?" His tone was firm, yet not overly harsh. He had to be careful with how he phrased things, his student had a tendency to let emotions dictate his actions and the things that he says.

Naruto waited a short moment to ensure that his teacher had said all that he needed to say. Much to the surprise of the white-haired jonin, the blond was very calm and collected. He almost seemed like a different person.

"There are a few things I want to ask." He stated simply, to which the older man nodded his agreeance. "First, what is the difference between your original training regimen, and the one we were going to do had I won the bet?" His tone remained even, again, surprising the more experienced ninja.

'Something doesn't feel right.' He thought to himself. He shook off that feeling and began to answer his student's question.

"This bet was a test of your mental fortitude. Had you gone out of your comfort zone and written a book, something you have absolutely no business doing with your writing skills, it would have proved to me that your mind could handle incredibly strenuous training." He began, still watching the boy's unchanging reaction to his words. Instead of pressing the blond about his unusual behavior, he continued. "Unfortunately, now I'm not sure if you can handle it. I don't want to give you something that you aren't ready to take on. Something like that can cause lasting damage to the psyche of someone as young as you." Jiraiya paused, believing he said something that could possibly irritate the blond. "And that's not to say our training won't be intense! Rest assured, it'll still be the most difficult thing you've ever done in your life! We're just gonna take precautions, is all. Okay?" He clarified.

Jiraiya knew that he had stacked the deck against his disciple. It almost didn't seem fair and he felt a tad guilty about. However, Naruto needed to prove just how determined he was. He couldn't risk permanently harming his godson like that. He shuddered to think what Kushina would do to him when they met in the afterlife.

Had Naruto and his clones not just read a dictionary over the past few weeks, Naruto would have only understood about half of what the toad sage had said to him. He nodded slowly, affirming that he understood what his master had said.

"There was another thing I wanted to ask you." He began, continuing on as if he didn't hear a word the Sannin said to him.

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. Now he was positive something weird was going on. Normally, the Naruto he knew would have interrupted him at least three times during that speech he just gave. "Okay, what is it?" He asked suspiciously. He glanced behind himself, making sure there wasn't another frying-pan-wielding Naruto ready to smack him.

"How can you say I've run out of time? You still aren't done with the research you have to do for your book. You were supposed to be done with your peeping about a week ago, but you aren't."

Jiraiya blushed slightly, embarrassed that he was being called out for his hypocrisy. "Well, you see, I've finished the majority of it!" He began, trying not to let the opinion his student has of him furtherly worsen. "We'll start our training tomorrow, I'll just have to do some research intermittently."

Naruto huffed. To him, it just sounded like more training where Jiraiya shows him how to do something once and then leaves the blond to his own devices while he goes around town and pervs the day away. That was not something he wanted to go through again. Not with the Akatsuki threatening to make their move in just a short couple of years. "You can take your half-assed training, and intermittent perv sessions, and stick them up your ass!" He crossed his arms across his chest in a defiant manner. "I'll have you know that there's no need for you to worry about training me and doing your research at the same time."

The sage couldn't help but hear the pride that was welling up in the voice of his student. If he wasn't interested in what was going on before, he sure was now. "Oh, and why's that?" He asked with genuine intrigue.

Naruto opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a knock at the door.

"That's odd." The older man said to himself. "Wonder who that is?" He opened the door and was met with a face he did not expect.

"What are you doing here?" He asked dumbly.

* * *

-One Week Earlier-

A handful of Naruto's scratched their heads in unison, their gazes resting on a rather large stack of papers. "Is that it?" One of them asked. "Are we done?" Another clone spoke with hope evident in his voice.

There was a short pause as the blonds looked to one another for confirmation.

"No!" One of the Naruto's broke the silence that had fallen over the group and shot up to his feet. "Have you read the ending? It blows!" He shouted. The angry Naruto grabbed the offending page from the stack and pointed a finger accusingly at the words written on it.

The original blond swiped the page away from his doppelganger, a sneer forming at his lips. "What do you mean? What's wrong with it?" He asked defensively.

"It's so unrealistic!" Another blurted out. The rest of the group grumbled their agreement, much to the displeasure of the real genin.

His eye twitched in annoyance. It would have been bad enough if someone else critiqued his work rudely, but he had to deal with five versions of himself telling him that his hard work sucked. "What's unrealistic about it?" He didn't know whether to be angry or hurt. After all, if his own clones thought this, did he in some way think it too? He glanced at his clones. 'I've noticed that some of my clones have thoughts that I don't normally have. But how is that possible? They're me?' His interest was piqued, but he would have to come back to that thought another time.

"The guy never gets the girl in the end in real life!" A third one blurted out, unaware of the real one's musings. "Don't you remember what we learned? It's so cliché!" The clone was referring to the books they had read that were so beneficial in developing the blonds writing abilities. The other Naruto's immediately nodded their head in unison at that statement.

Their minds drifted to Sakura, their pink-haired crush. They all hung their heads in dejection. Naruto definitely knew that heroic acts don't always get you the girl from experience.

"Yeah, you're right…" They all sighed loudly. "Guess we should come up with a new ending. Any ideas?" All of the energy that was once present in the group had been sucked dry. The blond did not like to think about his chances with his pink-haired friend. Actually, it would be more accurate to say his lack of chance with Sakura.

He got ripped out of his thoughts as one of his clones tapped him on the shoulder.

"What about this?" The clone asked. He handed the original a few sheets of paper. "I actually wrote this earlier while you were so focused on trying to complete your love story." He teased himself lightly. "Tell me what you think."

Naruto was unsure at first. This clone looked a lot like the one who said the plot should revolve around ramen. 'Wait, what the hell am I talking about? We're all identical.' He frowned at his own stupidity.

He began slowly reading over the several pages that were handed to him. The blond scanned every word thoroughly. His expectations were very high. After all, he technically wrote this material himself. As he continued to read the clones work, he recalled a segment from one of the books that he had read. 'While the ending does not mean everything to a story, a well-constructed ending is perhaps an author's most useful tool to convey the message he/she is trying to tell. In essence, it is the backbone of what the author is writing about.' The blond kept that in the back of his mind while he continued to read. What message did he want to convey? He was unsure.

Page by page, every word he read caused his excitement to increase. This was exactly what he was looking for! He was sure of it. "This is it." His voice was low almost a whisper. So low, in fact, that one of the clones asked him to repeat himself. He finished reading. "This is it!" He was much louder this time, words overflowing with enthusiasm. He looked at the clones with pride in his eyes. "I love me." There was a tear forming in one of his eyes.

The clone responsible for the work puffed his chest out and allowed himself a cocky grin.

"We did it, boys!" They all cheered loudly in victory. "While I would love to celebrate with all of you guys, I have some work to do before the old perv gets home."

The clones nodded back in understanding. "See ya later, chief." One of them said as they dispersed into clouds of smoke.

Without wasting any time, Naruto darted across the room to where Jiraiya's stuff was. Without regards for his master's privacy, he began swiftly rifling through the old man's personal belongings. "C'mon. Where is it?" He muttered to himself as he continued to look.

After looking through everything his master had left behind in the hotel, he still could not find what he was looking for. "All I need to know is the publisher's name and address." He continued to speak as if his clones were still there with him. "Ero-Sennin has to have that information stashed somewhere."

What almost felt inevitable, his eyes slowly fell on the book that was resting on the table. The book that Jiraiya had left him had remained there for over a week, untouched. The mere sight of the book made the blond uncomfortable. He shuddered. 'Anything but that. It's gotta be somewhere else!' The attempted reassurance did little to dissuade the apprehension that was building up inside him.

After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, he resigned himself to defeat. The genin slowly reached for the horrifying piece of literature. He took a deep breath, preparing his innocent mind for whatever his eyes may read.

He flipped the book open and started scanning the first couple of pages. His face quickly turned a deep shade of red. He had accidentally read a part of the first chapter. 'Who the hell reads this stuff?' His mind shifted to his other teacher, Kakashi. The blond sighed audibly. He had two insanely powerful mentor's, yet both were interested in this kind of material. At that very moment, Naruto did not know if he was lucky or cursed.

"There it is!" After a moment more of searching, he finally found it. "Land of Fire Publishing Company." His finger traced along with the words as he read them off the page. "The address is here, too! This is great!"

Once he was done copying down all the information he needed, he put the book right where it belonged. In the garbage. Naruto chuckled to himself. "A trashy novel, indeed." If his clones had heard him say that he would have definitely lost cool points.

* * *

-Present Day-

Naruto, interest piqued by his master's reaction, glanced over to the doorway. Standing there was a man in some of the most unusual clothing that the blond had ever seen, and this was coming from a person whose attire consisted of mostly bright orange.

The man was dressed in a grayish, almost green uniform along with a hat consisting of the same bland color. He wore dark goggles and had a bag strapped to the side of his body. From what Naruto could see the satchel contained a few small packages but mostly held what he assumed were letters. 'That's the weirdest looking mailman I've ever seen.' He thought to himself.

"596-03, at your service!" The man said enthusiastically. Naruto glanced up at his hat. Those very numbers were stitched into red cloth right below its bill. "I have a package for one, Naruto Uzumaki." The mail carrier seemed completely oblivious to the white-haired man's utter confusion.

"Who's this guy?" Naruto asked suspiciously. The man spoke in an odd, almost robotic, way. Yet, at the same time, he was enthusiastic. This odd behavior perturbed the young child.

"This is 596-03, and he says he has a package for you?" Hoping his apprentice would have an answer that would alleviate his current state of confusion. Initially, he was uneasy opening the door fearing it would be Anbu Black Ops members recruiting him for an emergency mission. Now he was just out of the loop.

"596-03?" Naruto repeated, dumbly, as he took his mail from the strange man. "That's not a name. That's just a bunch of numbers."

"That's right." The number man confirmed. "I am a courier ninja. Each courier ninja is designated their own set of numbers as a sort of identification marker. It is an important way to organize our operations.

The genin continued to eye the man up and down. "So, what are you? Like a postman or something?"

"Not exactly. Normal postmen don't risk their lives on a daily basis." Despite how robotic the man's voice was, he sounded very proud when he spoke about his work.

"Oh… so you're like an amazing postman!"

Jiraiya sighed. Sometimes his student's denseness was unprecedented. "Just shut up and let the guy deliver the rest of his mail, Naruto." The Sannin thanked the man and closed the door as the courier ninja took off for his next assignment.

"So…" Jiraiya crept over Naruto's shoulder. "What'cha got there?" He couldn't quite understand why someone would send Naruto anything, and how that person would know that they would even be here.

Naruto allowed himself a small smile. He was so curious about the amazing postman, that it had not even occurred to him what his mail could even be. Once his intrigue had worn off, he began putting the pieces together. There was a very strong chance that the outcome of their bet was located in his hands at that very moment. This was about to get interesting.

"Nothing you would be interested in, Ero-Sennin." The youth said vaguely. He shifted his shoulder, effectively blocking his teacher from seeing what was written on the package's exterior. The nosey sage was trying to spoil the surprise and his pupil was not having it.

In fact, just to get on Jiraiya's nerves his used his body to completely block the older man's view.

This only furthered Jiraiya's welling curiosity.

Naruto opened the large manila envelope and quickly read its contents. It was a letter addressed to him from Jiraiya's publishing company. His smirk grew large and larger as he continued reading.

"Gaki!" Came the frustrated shout of his nosey master. "Lemme see!" Jiraiya was practically bouncing up and down. How he hated being out of the loop! As a specialist in infiltration and spy tactics, his whole job was to be in the loop, being out of it was infuriating.

"Read it and weep, Ero-Sennin." The blond said as he held out the letter for his teacher to take.

Jiraiya quickly snatched it and began to read. He immediately recognized the header that this letter came from. It was the publishing company that published his masterpiece 'Icha-Icha' series. The gears slowly began to turn in his head. This was not good.

"Y-You…" He finally sputtered out. He rubbed his eyes and continued reading hoping that it was just his sight playing tricks on him, but the words on the pages didn't change. He had lost the bet. Naruto, the kid that can barely write his own name, was now going to be a published author.

"I what, Ero-Sennin?" There was an immense smile plastered on the boy's face. "What were you gonna say just now?" He asked cockily.

While it was certainly fun to rub his victory in the face of his sensei, Naruto felt something that he hasn't felt since he completed the Rasengan and won the necklace from Tsunade. The blond had put everything he had into proving the sage wrong. He felt as though all of his hard work paid off. But there was a different feeling. It wasn't just about winning, it was about creating something that he was proud of. Something completely his own. Mastering the Rasengan was great, yes, but he wasn't the one who invented the technique. He created Menma and his story, and it was good enough to get recognized by a major publisher. This was a crowning achievement in his life.

"…" Jiraiya felt as though something was caught in his throat. "You won…" He finally said as his head dropped in defeat. "I can't believe you actually did it!" He continued with his head still down. "All without me knowing!"

"Yeah, I'm awesome!" Naruto stuck a finger to his chest proudly as he spoke. "Oh, and I also used your name as a reference, so they would take me seriously." The blond grinned sheepishly. "But I'm still awesome!"

Jiraiya sighed. He really did not see this coming. It had taken him over a year to write a piece of literature that was good enough to get published, and yet his pupil had done it in a matter of weeks! It was inconceivable. 'I hate my publisher.' He thought to himself bitterly. Jiraiya was convinced that it was somehow their fault.

"I have to say, Naruto, you exceeded my expectations. I asked a lot of you, and you proved me wrong." While the sage was certainly bitter about losing to his student, he also felt a great amount of pride for the young blond. "I'm proud of you." He finished with a genuine smile.

Naruto blinked. The orphaned genin was definitely taken aback by those words. Growing up without parents, or really any parental role models always left him yearning for the acceptance of the adults around him. To Jiraiya, those words were a simple congratulatory statement, but to Naruto, they meant so much more. For an instant, he could almost feel what it was like to have a father. As inappropriate as his mentor was sometimes, Jiraiya was the closest thing the boy had to a father. And he wouldn't trade him for anyone else in the world. "T-Thanks…" Was all the boy could muster out.

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Like I was bragging about before, a deal is a deal. Although, instead it's gonna be me on the losing end." He chuckled. "Since it's getting late, we won't start training today. Training will begin first thing in the morning. Make sure you're ready." Was all Jiraiya said as he walked towards the door.

"Wait a minute." The blond began. "You're not going to still go out and do research, are you?" He asked, an annoyed tone to his voice.

"No." The white-haired jonin answered simply. "I gave you my word. Had I won, I would have forced you to stop chasing after Sasuke. The least I can do is honor my part, as well. Don't worry, from now on training is going to be our one and only focus." The genin could tell that his words were sincere.

"Then where are you going?" He was confused. 99.9% of the time Jiraiya went out it was to conduct research. Did he even do anything else besides eat, sleep, and perv? The blond did not know the answer, but he would probably put his money on no.

"I have to write up the training regimen that we are going to use for you. I was so sure that I was going to win that I didn't actually write anything down." He grinned sheepishly. "Looks like I'm not gonna be able to get much sleep tonight."

"Couldn't you just write that here?" The boy asked.

"Trust me, you don't want me here to keep you up." There was a dangerous glint that appeared in the Sannin's eyes. "Also, I don't want you getting nosey and spoiling the surprises I come up with."

Naruto gulped audibly.

"You're going to need every second of sleep you can possibly get." Jiraiya may have been incredibly proud of what his student achieved, but he was still a competitive guy. He was upset that he lost. However, he thought it would be a good idea to take all of those negative emotions and throw them on top of his pupil. Naruto would certainly get what he wanted. The boy was about to get the most intense training of his life.

"W-Why are you looking at me like that?" A now pale-faced Naruto stuttered out as he backed away slightly.

All he got in response was a sadistic grin by his sensei. He didn't like that.

Without uttering another word Jiraiya left the hotel room, his once sadistic smile now just a menacing grin. 'This is gonna be fun.' He mused. 'Well, it'll be fun for me.' He let out a laugh that reverberated against the walls of the hotel floor.

Naruto, now by himself once again, had a lot of things he needed to process. Most importantly, he was finally going to get the training he deserved. As terrified as Jiraiya made him about the prospect of their upcoming training, he also felt excitement. As he proved when he won the bet between him and the sage, and even his bet with Tsunade, he always rises to challenges put in front of him. This would be no different.

Then there was Sasuke. Had he lost, he would have to give up his pursuit to save his best friend from the grasp of that snake Orochimaru. Naruto loved training and getting stronger, but Sasuke was perhaps his biggest motivator for winning the bet. The fact he would be able to keep the promise that he made to Sakura was incredibly relieving. 'I'll save you, Sasuke. Don't worry one bit!' He thought to himself passionately.

The blond glanced over at the clock. It read 6:00 PM. As if on cue his stomach growled. "Guess I should eat dinner and then get ready for bed." He said aloud to himself. Based on how his master was talking the blond figured he was gonna get woken up much earlier than the 9:00 AM time that Jiraiya usually made him get up at. And if the training was going to be as difficult as the Sannin eluded to, the extra sleep would serve the genin well.

Naruto opened the cabinets in the kitchen and frowned. There was no ramen. How could Jiraiya expect him to train all day tomorrow without his premium fuel for dinner? This was already going terribly! After ensuring that the cabinets were empty his attention turned to the fridge. Inside there was a bento box with a note on it. He tilted his head in curiosity as he picked it up and began to read.

'I know you're probably upset that you lost the bet.' The blond allowed himself a smirk and kept reading. 'But it's for the best, I promise. As you probably already know our training starts tomorrow and you need to eat something more nutritious than ramen if you want to get stronger. Believe it or not, I made this food for you myself. And no, it won't kill you. Enjoy. -Jiraiya'

His teacher had clearly made the note with the presumption that Naruto had lost the bet. 'I guess I was supposed to find this after he went out perving.' He mused. A thought occurred to him.

"When did he have time to make food? I haven't left the hotel room in days?" The confused blond looked inside the bento box and to his surprise, the food actually looked edible. Jiraiya didn't come off as someone who knew how to cook so Naruto was a bit apprehensive at first.

It appeared to be steak, peppers, and other vegetables that Naruto didn't recognize. That wasn't surprising considering his fear of the word 'nutritious'. That was all served over a healthily sized bed of rice. He sat down at the table, picked up the chopsticks and slowly brought a piece of steak to his mouth. He took a bite and was shocked at the flavor he was tasting. "This is actually really good." The blond muttered to himself. The meat was tender and spiced wonderfully with spices that the boy did not recognize. The assorted vegetables were soft, but not too soft, and complemented the texture and flavor of the meat perfectly. "No way in hell he cooked this himself." He said as he continued to scarf down the delicious food.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Hopefully, that food would help give him the strength he needed to survive it.

Naruto finished the food and slammed the box back onto the table, his eyes brimming with determination. "I'm ready!"

* * *

 **AN: After a lot of buildup we're finally going to get into Naruto's training. As stated above, I have a few questions for the people who are still reading the story. How in depth should I go into the training? I know that a lot of people like to watch Naruto's growth during this time, but I don't want to include so much that it gets boring. And then there are also others who like to be surprised by the things he learns so I also don't want to reveal too much if that's what people want.**

 **Please leave a review with your thoughts and opinions about this (also tell me what you think of the story so far). It would mean a lot! Chapter 5 is already written and almost done being edited. Maybe a good amount of reviews will get me to release it a little early? *Wink* *Wink***

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. Sweet Dreams?

**Initially, the plan was to release this chapter the next week. I wanted to give myself some time to write a couple of chapters in advance so I could attempt to try and get some form of consistent uploading going. But I am a man of my word. This chapter is dedicated to all of the nice readers that left reviews since chapter 4 came out.**

 **AN: This chapter felt a bit clunky to write, but I hope that it's just me. Leave a review and tell me if you enjoyed it or not!**

 **Also, I'm undecided if this story will have any pairings in it (I know a lot of people care about that stuff). I honestly just haven't given it much thought. If that's something any of you are interested in let me know. I'm not asking for your opinion on which pairings I should do, just if you are pro-pairing and anti-pairing and why.**

 **As for the last chapter, I'm surprised no one mentioned the filler character the courier ninja. I couldn't have been the only one who saw that filler episode? I thought his inclusion was rather funny, perhaps I was the only one?**

* * *

Chapter 5: Sweet Dreams...?

Location: ?

Naruto had been running for what seemed like hours on end. The air was thick with mist, making visibility very poor for the genin. He took in a long harsh breath, filling his lungs with the oxygen necessary to continue. His heart was beating furiously, legs felt as if they were made of jelly, eyes heavy with exhaustion. Oddly enough, the blond had no idea why, or where, he was running. Stopping for a moment to calm down a bit, he leaned against a railing that he had been running alongside. Having been in such a hurry, the blond hadn't even taken in the surrounding area. Over the railing all that could be seen was water. Well, all that was able to be seen because of the sheer thickness of the fog.

'Am I on a bridge?' He mused, unsure of himself. A deep inhale of air left an almost fishy taste in the back of his throat. Where ever he was, he certainly didn't want to stay there for much longer. Energy now somewhat restored, the blond took off running, once again in the same direction. There was no logical reason why he was running this way, or at all, for that matter. The last thing he could remember was that he was running, so, he figured, wherever he was going was someplace important. Why was it important you ask? That was not something the blond could currently answer. The hope was that the answer would show itself soon. All that kept Naruto going was this strange feeling creeping its way up his body. He didn't like it. Not one bit.

There was just this sense of impending doom that he couldn't shake. It sent shivers up his spine.

He increased his pace, moving at speeds that would make a jonin proud. Whatever was about to happen, it wasn't good. That he knew.

After what seemed like more ten minutes of running, something could be seen in the distance. 'Light?' He thought to himself, as the fog lit up with a yellow, almost orange, hue. This had to mean that he was close. The answer was just up ahead.

The closer he got, the more his heart rate increased. Not from exhaustion this time, but from fear. Fear of what he might see. Fear of the unknown was something that even a seasoned shinobi dreaded. Naruto pushed those feelings down and continued his pace. 'No turning back now.' He thought in an attempt to motivate himself. The end of the fog was in sight. 'One more step!'

He broke through the fog and skid to a stop, waiting a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the now increased visibility. Now focused, his eyes immediately lit up in horror at what he saw. "This is…"

"NARUTO!"

Jiraiya watched as the boy's eyes snapped open in terror. The blond's pupils darted rapidly around the room, similar to the way a small animal scans its line of sight trying to locate a concealed predator. Even though the sage wasn't exactly quiet waking his pupil up, this wasn't the reaction he was expecting. "Naruto." He said much softer, putting a reassuring hand on his student's shoulder. "It's just me, Jiraiya. Are you okay?" He asked, shaking him ever so gently in an attempt to help him regain his focus.

It seemed to do just that as Naruto, still breathing heavily, shook his head vigorously to regain his senses. Now with focused eyes, the child realized where he was. He was back in the hotel room that he and Jiraiya were staying at. He blinked, now more confused than terrified.

"Is everything okay, Naruto?" Came the concerned voice of his teacher.

"Y-yeah." The blond said as he rubbed the side of his head with the palm of his hand. "I think I was having a bad dream." Voice laced with uncertainty. He glanced over at his alarm clock.

'5:30 AM' Read the evil device.

Jiraiya picked up on this. "You think?" He asked.

Naruto yawned as his face scrunched up in deep thought. There were memories floating at the back of his mind. Very recent memories that were just barely out of reach. He tried harder to get a hold of them, but they were just out of his grasp. "I don't really remember." He answered after a long pause.

"Do you remember anything, at all?" The sage continued to press, hoping his student would remember anything significant.

He thought for a moment. There was something. A detail he deemed so small and insignificant that there was almost no point in even mentioning it. But, considering that was all there was to mention, bringing it up could do no harm, either. "Water." Was the boy's simple response.

"Water?" The sage asked dumbly. "What about water?"

"There was water."

"Okay." The sage said slowly. "Do you remember anything else?" Water wasn't exactly something Jiraiya would deem relevant.

"I don't think so." The blond was now staring off into space. "I just told you that was all I remembered, didn't I?"

Jiraiya watched his disciple stand up and stretch out his arms. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" The sage didn't know how to approach this situation. Naruto was clearly a little shaken by whatever it is that he saw in his dream, but he was unable to remember anything about it except for the fact that it had something to do with water. How could he possibly help with that little bit of information? It's at moments like this where it becomes evident to Jiraiya that he is not cut out to be a parent. The only reason he tries at all is that he cares for the little blond so much. Not that he would tell Naruto any of that.

'What would Minato do in this situation?' He thought to himself desperately. Minato had all the makings of being a great father. The Namikaze was wise beyond his years, very patient with everyone he spoke to, reassuring, and had a kind face that made him easily approachable. Jiraiya wished that he had some of those qualities in order to be the father figure that Naruto needed, but he doubted that that would ever happen.

"I'm not even sure if there is anything that we can really talk about." The blond said unsurely. How can you talk about something that you can't really remember?

Now Jiraiya was the one deep in thought. How could he help his student cheer up a bit? Because of the blond's lack of memory, trying to talk about it would do little, to no, good. So, what else could bring the genin's spirits up?

"How about we take your mind off of all of this by finally starting that training I promised you? He asked hopefully.

Any negative feelings that Naruto had were immediately being washed away at the prospect of training. In fact, he was practically bouncing up and down from sheer excitement. How could he have forgotten? He beat Jiraiya in a bet, wrote a book, and was finally about to begin his super awesome training! It felt like an impossible dream that has somehow come true. "Let's go, Ero-Sennin!" The energetic boy sprang to his feet. Before Jiraiya had even realized what was going on, his student was fully dressed in his orange jumpsuit and halfway out the door. "Times a wasting!"

"Hold it right there, gaki." To which the blond, now sporting a pouty face, stopped in his tracks.

Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief. 'This kid is a roller-coaster of emotions, sometimes. I can never say he isn't an easy kid to cheer up, though. Give the brat training or a bowl of ramen and he's the happiest person you'll ever meet.' The jonin smiled lightly.

"What's the holdup, Ero-Sennin." His bouncing was now from impatience, not excitement. "You said we were gonna train today!"

"We have to pack up all of our stuff." Jiraiya said calmly, hoping his student will mimic his demeanor. "We aren't coming back here."

Unfortunately for Jiraiya, Naruto could not be calmed so easily. "Huh? Why not?" There was a tinge of sadness in his voice. The blond had grown accustomed to the hotel they were staying. It was cozy. Why did they have to leave already?

"Shut up and listen to me for once in your life. The sooner we get our stuff packed and this place cleaned up, the sooner we can start your training. Got i-"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

'POOF'

Jiraiya's eye twitched in annoyance at being rudely cut off by his student. 'At least he's listening to me, kind of.' The sage, now trying to ignore the blond, walked to his side of the room and began to pack up his own stuff.

"Alright, you guys! You heard the man! I want our stuff packed and this room cleaned up by the end of the hour!" The blond's eyes were blazing with passion. There was nothing more he enjoyed doing than training.

"That's only fifteen minutes." One of the doppelgangers huffed in annoyance.

"Exactly. Which is why you should be moving instead of complaining!" The original shot back harshly.

The Sannin was watching the whole exchange and could only sweatdrop. 'No wonder he got punched in the face the other day.' He thought to himself dryly.

* * *

Naruto, one knee bent and the other extended, leaned into a deep stretch. He winced slightly as his hamstring muscles burned lightly in response. Once completed, he sat cross-legged on the ground facing Jiraiya. For the first time in what felt like a long time to the Sannin, his pupil actually looked like he was going to pay attention. This surprised Jiraiya. After everything that transpired today - from his nightmare, to the excitement he showed afterward - the last thing Jiraiya expected from the blond was calmness. He smiled. A bit of silence every so often was refreshing. It was a rarity nowadays.

While Naruto was exuding a level of calmness, inwardly he was conflicted. Yes, he was ecstatic to begin his intense training, but he also could not shake what had happened during the morning. He doesn't have like that dreams often and couldn't remember the last time a nightmare was as intense as that. However, the most infuriating thing of all was that he could barely remember anything from the dream that had left him so rattled. 'You think something like that would have left a lasting impression on me that'd be hard to forget.' He thought, slightly annoyed at his useless brain. As far as he was concerned his brain had only two jobs. Let him know when he was hungry, so he could eat, and remember things! Simple, and yet, it still somehow managed to screw it up.

"This." Jiraiya's voice pulled the boy from his thoughts. The sage was gesturing to the decent-sized clearing they were standing in the middle of. "Is where we will be training for the next month or so."

The clearing was about one-hundred feet in diameter, surrounded on all sides by a dense forest. The ground, which had some grass patches here and there, mostly consisted of a firm, packed down dirt. Perfect for the boy to train on. They had found this clearing after several hours of traveling. Based on the position of the sun overhead, it was now roughly noon.

"Hmm?" The blond cocked his head to the side in apparent confusion. "Why are we not staying here for that long?" While Naruto didn't like the idea of trading in his comfy hotel bed for the cold ground, having to pack everything up and travel so frequently might be even worse. He just wanted to train!

"I thought it would be a good idea to use this time not only to train but to travel the world a bit. It would be a little dull to stay in the same place all of the time. We would have never left the Leaf Village if that was the case." He finished with a light shrug.

'What we really need to do is try and stay off of the Akatsuki's radar. Staying in one place might cause some unwanted trouble to come our way. I already cut it close by staying in Tanzaku town for too long, can't make that rookie mistake again.' Even though they had stayed in Tanzaku town for nearly a month, the sage was confident that the Akatsuki had not found them. 'In a secluded forest like this, a month should be completely safe.'

Naruto nodded in reluctant acceptance. He had a feeling there was something that Jiraiya wasn't telling him but decided not to dwell on it. As long as he got to train it really didn't make that much of a difference where they did it. Training was the only thing that mattered today.

Jiraiya inwardly sighed in relief. 'Thank God he's dumb.'

"Alright, Ero-Sennin." The impatient student chirped. "What super awesome jutsu are you going to teach me today?" He was rocking side-to-side in anticipation.

While the excitement was certainly there, Jiraiya noted that his protégé seemed a little different than usual. The Naruto he knew just a few short months ago would be in his face screaming that they should have started fifteen minutes ago. This Naruto was far more reserved than he had expected. The Sannin smiled. 'Perhaps he's finally starting to take things seriously.'

Jiraiya was right, in a sense. Despite not realizing it, the whole process of writing a novel had changed the blond's outlook on how a task should be completed. Had he gone in guns blazing, fully unprepared to write his novel, he would have failed miserably. However, the realization he had about being dumb and not having any writing skills at all was, quite possibly, the best thing that could have happened to him. Slowing things down, teaching himself the necessary tools to succeed, these were the keys to writing his novel. The boy didn't realize it, but he was carrying this methodology over into his training.

"Well." Began the older man. "You can start by not calling me 'Ero-Sennin' anymore. After all, I am your master and you should be showing me the proper respect."

Naruto brought his hand up to his chin and squinted his eyes. "I'll think about it, Ero-Sennin." He answered after a short pause.

'Sigh.'

"Just start with a warm-up." Muttered the older leaf ninja. His eyes scanned over the entirety of the clearing. "50 laps should suffice."

It was Naruto's turn to sigh. "Fine. We'd better do some actual training next." He grumbled as he started to jog around the circumference of the clearing.

Jiraiya, paying no attention to his student's grumblings, walked to the edge of the clearing and sat down against the trunk of a rather large tree. "Time to start the fun part." He said to himself as he began reaching into his bag. Slowly, while also watching to make sure Naruto wasn't half-assing his warmup, the sage took out the necessary materials for the next phase of the boy's training.

A set of light ankle and wrists weights, some ink, and a brush. A wicked smile appeared across his face. "The gaki wants some hard training? Let's hope he doesn't regret those words." With the small brush now dipped in ink, he grabbed one of the four weights.

Naruto, now on his fourth lap, sighed out of agonizing boredom. Despite really wanting to take his training as seriously as he could, jogging was not what he was expecting, or wanted. Muscles now warmed up to his liking, he scanned the area to find where his master had gone off to.

He noticed Jiraiya sitting against a tree at the opposite end of the field. Deciding anytime away from pointless running was well-spent, he walked over to him. As he got closer, the genin noticed that Jiraiya was scribbling out some weird symbols that he did not recognize.

"Hey, Ero-Sennin?" He called out questioningly. "What are you doing?" He took a peek at what his sensei was drawing, hoping the closer distance would assist him in figuring out what those odd symbols were. His face scrunched up in confusion. "What's with all the weird scribbles?" Gesturing to the small weights now adorned with odd swirly patterns.

He decided to not even ask about why the sage had such a such a creepy looking smile on his face. Something told the blond that whatever it was, he didn't wanna know.

"These aren't scribbles, gaki." The older man retorted, slightly annoyed that the blond did not recognize what he was doing. "This is Fuinjutsu, also known as the sealing arts."

"Sealing, huh?" His student repeated in feign understanding. Whatever it was, it looked kinda cool. Maybe that was something Jiraiya was gonna teach him. His excitement increased. "So what are those seals you're drawing for?"

The sage finished writing the necessary seals on the last weight. He picked up all four at once and infused a bit of his chakra into the seals. That way, they would respond to his chakra when he wanted to activate them from a distance. "Why don't you put these on and find out?" Jiraiya's tone betrayed nothing, but on the inside, he was chuckling mischievously.

Naruto nodded dumbly and took the weights from his sensei. Now, with a weight strapped to each limb, Naruto waited patiently for something cool to happen. The way Jiraiya was making Fuinjutsu sound, something cool was bound to happen, right?

The blond frowned. These felt like normal weights. The wrist weights were only a meager five pounds, and the ankle weights weren't much heavier. Naruto would venture to guess they weighed, at most, ten pounds. "Ero-Sennin, what is supposed to happ-"

"HA!"

Suddenly, it was as if Choji in his expanded form had just fallen on top of the blond. Arms now swinging at his sides, it felt as if the ground was a magnet and the weights around his limbs were hunks of metal. He struggled mightily, muscles bulging in an effort to keep the boy's body upright. The initial shock of the massive increase in weight, however, was too much and he could no longer resist. The blond crumpled to the ground. "What the hell are these?" He asked, head thrashing about in a vain attempt to help himself back up.

"Those would be gravity seal." His master said with a humorous tone. "With the seals I put on those weights, I can freely manipulate the amount of gravitational force that is exerted on them. I can either choose to make them as light as a feather or heavy as a boulder. In other words, they are the perfect tool to use for your training."

Had he not been pinned to the ground with what felt like hundreds of pounds of weight, Naruto would have found that explanation to be rather fascinating. For the time being, though, getting up to a standing position was the current objective. "That great and all." He said through grit teeth, still trying in vain to get up. "But, don't ya think you should lighten these up a bit?"

His anger, coupled with the very unthreatening position he was in, caused the Sannin to break out in uproarious laughter. Once calm, he obliged and reduced the gravitational force just enough to where the blond should be able to stand under his own power.

Naruto, now upright, shot his teacher a dirty look that carried the promise of pain the boy knew he couldn't deliver.

"Whoops." His master said lamely, throwing his hands up in exaggerated surprise. "Perhaps I made them a bit too heavy?"

"You think." The younger ninja said through gritted teeth. He tried to lift his arms up so he could strangle the bastard but to no avail. The weights were still too damn heavy for that.

"How heavy are these anyway?" The blond said, knees buckling slightly from the stress.

""Right now the seals are set to about eight times normal gravitational pull, give or take a few pounds. That means each wrist weight is roughly 40 pounds, and each ankle weight is somewhere around 80 pounds. That's a total of 240 pounds." The sage explained to his blond student. He noticed the dubious reaction that his student gave and smiled. "You're the one who wanted this training, gaki. Don't complain now that you have just what you asked for!"

His disciple grinned sheepishly at being called out. "Maybe you could reduce the weight a little bit more?" He asked hopefully.

Jiraiya shook his head, swiftly dashing the blond's hopes. Go finish your laps, gaki"

"I finished them already." He lied poorly in response.

"No, you didn't."

"How do you know?" He attempted to point his finger accusingly at the sage, but his muscles wouldn't let him. "You didn't even watch me!"

Naruto was just simply waved off by his sensei. "You've got 46 laps left." He replied smugly. "Go finish them. And when you're done you're going to be doing agility drills and other movements to improve your overall maneuverability."

Naruto began to open his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off. "Yes, with the weights on." His master said dryly.

Naruto grumbled something about a 'sadistic old man' and began to trudge through his laps.

Jiraiya shook his head. 'I guess the kid needs a little motivation.' He thought to himself.

"Naruto." The aforementioned blond turned his head towards the sound, a scowl plastered on his face.

"What?"

"You know your friend? The one with the big eyebrows on Gai's team?"

Naruto's scowl disappeared, confused by the turn the conversation took. His head now cocked to the side, perplexed. "You mean bushy brow? What about him?"

"How do you think he got so fast?" To which Naruto shrugged. "He did something very similar to what I'm making you do. These weights are going to help you greatly increase your speed in a short amount of time. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the next time you see your friend, you're even faster than he is. Not only that, but these weights are much more compact and won't restrict your movements like the bulky weights Gai uses." There was a tinge of pride in the sage's voice. Using his own sealing design, he was confident that his method would be even more effective than the one employed by the Leaf Village's Blue Beast.

Naruto's eyes lit up. Had he heard the older man correctly? Faster than bushy brow? He looked down at the weights strapped to his limbs. 'Can these really make me that fast?' He thought to himself, astonished. His eyes hardened. 'If that's true, I need to stop complaining and push through the strain. I need to get stronger.'

'There's that gleam in his eye again.' The sage mused. That was the same gleam the Sannin saw when he challenged Naruto to write a novel. 'If the outcome of that was any indication, this is about to get very interesting.' Goofy Naruto was fun to be around, sure, but serious Naruto was something to marvel at. 'The determination the kid carries in his eyes. I don't know if I could ever bring myself to bet against him when he looks like that.' He sat back down against the tree and just watched. 'Are you proud of him, Minato? Kushina?' He wondered.

…

…

Naruto grunted from the effort. Every step he took was a struggle, every swing of the arm to help with his momentum caused his biceps to strain. Only halfway through the tenth lap and his muscles were already begging him to stop. The only things that were keeping him going were the thought of all of his friends, and the desire to get strong enough to where he can protect those friends. "This… is… nothing." He grunted out in-between steps.

Jiraiya smirked.

"Every exercise you do will push your mind and your body to the very limit." The sage made sure to speak loud enough that his protégé could hear him on the other side of the field. "Even the most routine warm-ups are going to be so intense that your muscles are going to beg you to stop. Every time you think you're starting to get used to that weight, I'm going to double it. You're going to want to quit and I won't blame you." He stopped for a moment and allowed his words to sink in. "So, I ask you, do you still to continue." He concluded, tone firm but not harsh.

"Yes, I do!"

His lips turned up into a smirk at not being referred to as 'Ero-Sennin'. "Good."

…

…

…

"Come on!" The 13-year-old said through grit teeth as he took yet another step. He was 49 laps down and still going. The blond didn't even know how long he had been going for, or how he was still standing.

The sun was no longer directly overhead, now at about 45 degrees. It's been at least a couple of hours.' Wincing from the strain his body was under as he took another agonizing step. 'So much for this being a warm up.' He thought to himself bitterly.

After nearly three hours of dragging himself around with the added weight, he felt his muscles beginning to adjust. That didn't make it any easier on his exhausted muscles, but it was a start. At least there was a somewhat noticeable level of improvement.

"Ah!" He squealed, nearly tripped over his own feet.

'I'll be the luckiest person alive if I can get out of this training alive.' Jiraiya wasn't kidding when he said this wasn't gonna be easy. After just one day of walking, this was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. Apparently, the genin was too deep into his own thoughts, he momentarily lost his, collapsing face first into the dirt.

Jiraiya's student tried to push himself up with all of his remaining strength but to no avail. He was just too drained. "Dammit!" His eyes darted around the clearing, looking for the only man that could help him out of his predicament.

Except, no one was there.

"Really!?" He exclaimed. "Where the hell is that bastard?" The blond swore he was here just a moment ago. "He stayed for the first 49 laps, but not the last one? I mean, who does that!?"

The blond was starting to get angry, head flailing about. "When I find him, I'm going to kick his ass!" He shouted in hopes that it would somehow reach the ears of his master. He thought for a moment. "But first, I'm gonna need to stand…"

'There's gotta be something.' Eyes searching for anything to grab on to. 'A stick, a rock, a tree, anything!' Nope, there was nothing even close to being within reach.

"If only I could move my arms to make some clones." They were only 40 pounds each, but it felt as though a boulder was on top of them! The genin could feel the necessary chakra swirling around within him, it was right there. Without the necessary hand seal, it just had nowhere to be directed. He closed his eyes and concentrated. His goal was to try and force the chakra out of his body. Would that solve his problem? Who knew, but no sense in not trying anything. "C'mon!" The veins in his forehead bulged out from the effort. "It's there If only I could just-"

'Poof'.

Upon hearing the sound, his eyes snapped open in surprise. Looking to the left, then right, his eyes locked with another familiar pair of blue orbs. Standing beside him was, well… him! Could it be, a seal-less clone?

The clone blinked. He looked down at his hands, face scrunched up in confusion. After patting himself on the chest to confirm his solidity, he frowned. "Uh, how am I here?" He asked dumbly.

The real Naruto, however, didn't even register his doppelganger's question. Something much more interesting caught his attention. "You have weights on, too. Don't you feel heavy?" The clone didn't seem to have any difficulty standing.

"Huh?" The clone threw a few mock punches and kicks, bouncing off his heels for added assurance. "I… guess not." He concluded. "That's weird. I guess a clone of a seal doesn't exactly work like the original?" Voice laced with uncertainty.

Naruto silently thanked whatever deity that decided to bestow this good fortune upon him. "Alright, help me up. I need to go find that jerk!"

"Fine." The standing Naruto said, reaching down to pick up his bossy summoner. "Damn, you're heavy. You've really let yourself go, you know that?" The clone joked with a laugh.

The original, who's arm was now slung over the other's shoulder, didn't laugh. "You know if I didn't need you, I would so hit you right now." Despite his good fortune for being able to summon a clone who could actually stand, Naruto was in no mood for jokes, even if they were technically his jokes.

"You mean IF you could hit me you would so hit me right now!" His snickering was silenced by a heavy fist.

'Poof'

"That'll teach me not to be such an ass…"

Now, body fully erected, the blond could reflect on what had just happened. Anger now subsiding, he was overjoyed at what he had just accomplished. 'I made a clone without a seal! I didn't even know you could do that!' The genin didn't know how he had done it, but he was sure of one thing. That was something that definitely needed to be looked into.

"Now I gotta go find that bastard." He grumbled to himself. Taking another step, he suddenly remembered just how hard it was for him to walk with his tired muscles. He glanced over at a very comfortable looking spot in front of a tall tree.

"Now I gotta wait for that bastard to come back." Grumbling again as he walked in the direction of the tree.

* * *

 **AN: This is where I would say the fanfic really begins to deviate from the canon storyline in a significant way. Some things, of course, will stay the same or be somewhat similar. However, many things will also change drastically. VERY drastically. Be prepared. Depending on how upcoming chapters play out, I may be forced to change the rating of the story from T to M.**

 **I'm trying to keep the pacing at a slow-to-moderate level for now, so as not to rush any of what I deem important development for our young protagonist. As you can see, he's already thinking in a slightly different way from his canon counterpart. What else will he learn?** **I am of the school of thought that Naruto did not get as strong as he should have from training with Jiraiya. He's going to be strong, but I will do my best to not make him over powered. OP Naruto fics are boring IMO.**

 **As for the explanation of the seal-less jutsu (if anyone's even interested), it'll be explained in later chapters. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Old Habits Die Hard

**AN: I'd just like to thank everyone who favorites and follows the stories. The story recently reached 65 followers at the time of writing this and that means a lot to me. All of the reviews have been very positive, as well. They keep me motivated to keep writing so continue leaving them! I'm very open to reviews that critiques, too. Anything that can help me improve is appreciated.**

 **As for chapter updates, I'm hoping to get a chapter out every other week. I am in college, so when the workload gets too heavy each semester, I can't promise that I stick to that. If I remember to, I can post on my profile how the chapters are coming along (like percentage-wise and such). Or PM me, I'll respond directly to any questions or concerns you may have. Just don't ask for me to spoil any of the story for you! :)**

 **I was PM'd about possibly using a poll to determine whether or not this story will have pairings. I'm heavily considering this, and if I end up using polls, I will let you guys know in the Author's Notes of future chapters. However, I just want to be clear that this will not be a Harem fic. If there are pairings, it will be a 1:1, not 1: Many. Just my personal preference, I hope you guys understand.**

 **Thanks for reading! Happy Holidays! See you in 2019!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Breaking the Habit

'Only five laps today, Naruto.'

When the blond had heard those words come out of the white-haired sage's mouth, he almost wept tears of utter joy. If had been a week since Jiraiya had introduced the chakra weights into Naruto's training, but this was the first day in which he wasn't required to do fifty laps for his warm-ups. Being happy was an understandable reaction, yes, but now the genin was beginning to feel different about the whole situation.

Naruto, who was currently on his fourth out of five laps, was jogging at a very modest pace. This was a far cry from his first day using the weights and he was proud of the progress he was making so far.

'What is the reason he's only having me do five laps? Is something else going on today.' Despite the great progress he had been making recently, he was currently unable to enjoy it because of the lighter warm-up. The blond has known Jiraiya long enough that he rarely does things, if at all, without some sort of reasoning behind it. 'I guess the only thing I can do is wait and find out what he tries to kill me with next.' He thought to himself as a drop of sweat rolled down his temple.

"This is ridiculous!" The angry shout caused the genin's head to snap towards the direction of the offending sound. It was Jiraiya- leaned up against a tree as always- with an irritated expression on his face. Upon closer inspection, his student noticed that the Sannin was angrily reading through a stack of papers.

"Wait a minute." The blond said incredulously. He recognized those papers. That was a copy of the transcript for his book, which had been given to him when he received his publication confirmation letter from Jiraiya's, now also his, publisher. Naruto also noticed that one of his bags was open and many of his things had been removed and were laying on the floor. Steam comically began to pour out of his ears as he stomped over to confront his nosey mentor.

"Hey, asshole!" The blunt boy yelled. "What are you doing going through my stuff? You left it all out on the floor! It's gonna get dirty!" If Jiraiya was a lot weaker and smaller, Naruto would definitely beat him up!

Jiraiya, ignoring the blond's outbursts how he usually does, matched his anger as he held up Naruto's transcript. "What is this? What am I reading?!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at the offending text.

"What do you mean?" The genin shot back.

"This!" Jiraiya dragged his finger across every inch of the page for emphasis.

While he appeared animated and upset about something, the blond was unable to determine what he was actually angry about. "What's wrong with it?" He said irritably. He had put a lot of effort into producing that book and he couldn't help but get a bit defensive when someone criticized it. Especially a giant pervert who only writes smut!

"Where do I begin?!" The older man said in exasperation. "I'm already a few chapters in. Where's the romance? Or the drama?!" He rubbed his head in genuine confusion as he spoke, eyes filled what appeared to be a burning passion so intense Naruto could not make direct eye contact with him. "How could a student of mine not know the first thing about writing a successful novel?" He looked to his ward for answers.

Naruto let out an irritated sigh as his anger levels dropped to considerably lower levels. He knew that this was going to happen eventually. After all, it was the super pervert he was dealing with. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he addressed his master's qualms.

"Maybe there are none of those elements in this story because it is not a romance novel?! Did that ever cross your mind, perv?" If Naruto was being honest with himself, he wasn't that offended by anything Jiraiya had said. If the complaint had been about the overall quality of writing, that would have been a different story. In this case, it was just Jiraiya being Jiraiya, something Naruto wholeheartedly accepted as reality at this point. "How am I even supposed to write a novel about romance if I haven't even had a girlfriend, anyway?"

The sage raised his hand to answer the blond's question.

"If the word research comes out of your mouth, I will write a letter to Granny Tsunade and she won't be happy about what I have to say."

Jiraiya slowly lowered his hand.

Aside from being his usual childish self, Jiraiya was acting a bit strange. To Naruto, what the older man was saying did not match what his eyes were telling him. The Sannin's eyes were conveying a different emotion, one that the blond was unsure of. Maybe he was imagining the whole thing?

The truth was that Jiraiya was trying to hide how he was truly feeling. In actuality, he was jealous of his young ward. The realization that he was jealous of his own student was making him feel a tad guilty. These negative feelings stemmed from the blond's novel. Initially, Jiraiya did not have high expectations regarding the boy's writing capabilities. However, that completely changed when he got past the first chapter. The book was excellent, not that Jiraiya would ever admit that to anyone.

He was incredibly proud of his student for discovering his talents for literature, that was not why he felt jealous. It was the book itself, or, more importantly, what it was about. The only action-adventure book featuring a heroic main character that the Sannin ever wrote was, to put it nicely, not commercially successful. It was a failure. A failure that led him to abandon that genre of writing altogether and, instead, write his 'romance' novels. While his Icha-Icha series was a success that made him rather wealthy, 'Tale of a Gutsy Ninja' was something he poured his soul into like no other. He was bitter that people did not receive it as positively as he envisioned.

He shook his head in an attempt to relieve his brain of the negative thoughts he was feeling. Looking back down at his protégé's transcript, he allowed himself a small smile. From the very beginning of the story, he had immediately noticed the similarities between its main character and his favorite little blond. 'Knowing you, Naruto, I feel that this story may have a similar message to the one I tried to write all of those years ago. Instead of being envious like a bratty child, I'm going to hope that this story makes a difference in the world that I wish mine could have.'

Naruto, noticing his mentor's sudden change in expression, frowned in confusion. "What is it now?" He was starting to think that his sensei was bi-polar. The man switched from upset to happy faster than Naruto could eat a bowl of miso ramen with extra pork.

"'The Weight of the World', why did you pick that for the title?" Jiraiya, who was now looking at this disciple, asked with an even tone.

Naruto was taken aback by the sudden question. "Well, uh…" He took a moment to respond while he gathered his thoughts. "The hero has to overcome so much, and so many people are relying on him. That's a lot of pressure to put on one person, ya know?" He finally answered.

"Do you ever feel like that?"

The genin's eyes widened slightly, then he rebounded quickly. "What? Of course not!" He puffed out his chest for effect. "Nothing can ever get me down! I'm amazing, believe it!" Proud smile ever present on his face.

Jiraiya's gaze remained fixed on his student. It was obvious that while Naruto wished that was the truth, it wasn't the case. With the Akatsuki after him, Sasuke going rogue to join Orochimaru, and Naruto's vow to protect everyone precious to him, there was no genin alive who had more pressure on them than him. "Just know that you can talk to me whenever you need it, okay?"

"Uh, sure." Voiced with a twinge of awkwardness. He wasn't used to Jiraiya acting like this. Although he wouldn't admit it to the perv, it felt rather comforting to hear him say that.

"I'm sorry for tossing all of your stuff on the ground, Naruto." The blond blinked. "Would it be okay if I could borrow this, so I can finish it?" The sage said, gesturing to his student's novel.

"Why?" The younger leaf ninja asked. He hadn't expected that question.

"You're my student, so I can't in good conscience let you write a second book without giving you critiques on the first!" The older author had a toothy grin as he gave the younger novelist a big thumbs up.

Naruto huffed. "Whatever, if you can find any critiques, that is." He shot back.

Jiraiya let out a bellowing laugh and placed the transcript beside him. "That's the spirit, gaki!" He stood up and inspected his student closely. "So, how are the weights feeling today? Are you getting adjusted to them?"

"I'm pretty sure that my body is adjusting to the weight pretty well." Raising his arms above his head for emphasis. "It's still hard as hell, but I can manage. I was even able to jog the entire five laps."

The sage raised an eyebrow in response. He expected the boy's progress to be fast, however, he hadn't foreseen such rapid development. Instructing the blond to complete five laps as quickly as possible, he had expected the child to be completely gassed by the end of it. 'He's not even breathing hard.' An amazing feat for sure.

"Good. Maybe next month I can increase the amount of weight a little."

"A little? I thought you said you were going to double the weight every time I adjusted to it?" There was confusion and relief evident in his voice. Mostly relief.

Jiraiya waved dismissively in response. "What, are you crazy? Who do I look like? Gai?"

"The-Then what was that whole inspirational speech last week for?!"

"Oh, that?" He said with a mischievous grin. "I just enjoy scaring the crap out of you, gaki."

There was a slight pause.

"You know, every time I gain a little bit of respect for you, you find some dumb way to make me think less of you." He shook his head in slight disbelief. "You're just an idiot, aren't you, Ero-Sennin?"

Jiraiya hung his head in disappointment. Sometimes, he wished his student would start treating him with the respect a ninja as cool as him deserved. Strength feared by practically every ninja in every village across the entire world… And yet, the respect of his 13-year-old pupil constantly eluded his grasp.

"You may be a kid, but that doesn't mean your words don't sting." Feign tears were streaming down the older writer's face.

With his long, spiky hair he kind of looked like a depressed porcupine. So instead of trying to console his master he, being the nice guy that he is, started laughing at him.

"Okay, Gaki," Jiraiya spoke as if nothing happened. Maybe he was bi-polar? "Are you ready to start the next part of your training today?

"That's what I was just about to ask you about." The sage nodded for him to continue. "How come you only had me do 5 laps today? Normally I do at least 50 laps and then we jump right into those weird drills you have me do."

"I'll tell you why." He began. "You see, I wanted this first week to be about increasing your body's strength and speed. These two aspects are some of the most fundamental abilities a shinobi should have." The blond nodded in understanding. "However, I don't want to be doing the same thing every day. It is also important that we mix in other aspects of training as well. The body needs time to rest and can't do it if you carry around all that extra weight every day."

The blond was getting excited. Could this mean he was going to learn some super epic jutsu today? "Okay, so what are we gonna do today?" Voice not betraying his overflowing cheerfulness.

"You and I are going to spar!"

The boy's face fell immediately. Spar with Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin? Suddenly wishing he hadn't been so mean to his sensei, the blond audibly gulped. "How exactly is sparring with you going to make me better? You're so much stronger than me!"

The older man waved off his student's apprehensions. "I'm not going to kill you, gaki. The reason we're going to spar is, so I can evaluate your taijutsu."

Naruto's eyes lit up in realization. "So, the weights were for…"

"Exactly." His master confirmed. "We're going to build up your strength and speed for while also improving your taijutsu at the same time." He made a quick hand sign. "Ha!"

The genin felt the difference immediately. Since the weights had been activated for seven consecutive days, he had almost forgotten what his normal weight felt like. Being 300 pounds lighter, he didn't feel heavy anymore. In fact, it was almost as if he was floating. "Woah!" He exclaimed. "This feels so much better!" Bouncing around and throwing a few mock punches and kicks for display.

Jiraiya took a piece of paper out of his pocket and began reading off of it. "Three days out of the week you will be working on your strength and speed using the weights. Those days will consist of things similar to what I've had you do for the past week. However, there will also be another three days where we will be working on your taijutsu."

"What about the seventh day?" Asked the boy.

"That," Jiraiya said, turning the paper around to show his ward. "Will be a hybrid training session."

Naruto squinted as he read his sensei's odd handwriting. The paper had all seven days of the week written on it. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were circled, while Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday were enclosed by a square. Lastly, Sunday was enclosed by both a square and a circle. Today was Tuesday, so based on that information he concluded that squares meant taijutsu and circles meant weighted training. "What exactly do you mean by a hybrid session?" He asked, slightly confused. "A little bit of both in one day?"

"Not quite." Responded the older man. "During hybrid sessions, you'll be practicing your taijutsu while wearing your chakra weights." The blond's eyes widened slightly. "Because of the fluid and explosive movements executed during combat, wearing weights at the same time will help strengthen muscles that you aren't even aware that you have! "

"If hybrid training is so effective, how come we don't do it every day?" While it certainly didn't sound fun, if it got him the results he wanted, then so be it.

"Ah, good question." The sage acknowledged. "It's because of how physically exhausting it'll be on your body. If your body can handle it in the future, we may increase the number of days to 2 or 3, but for now, we'll start with one."

The blond nodded in understanding.

"Are you ready?" Jiraiya asked as he lowered into a defensive stance.

Naruto's face paled slightly. "Why do I need to fight you? Why can't I just spar with my clones?" If there was an alternative to fighting a Sannin, the boy would most assuredly take it.

Jiraiya chuckled, much to the annoyance of the blond. He wasn't going to get out of this that easily. "I need to see your taijutsu first-hand. That way it will be much easier for me to be able to correct your form." 'Or change it entirely.' He mentally added.

The young author's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He knew that that wasn't the main reason. The sage could easily watch he and his clones fight and correct his form that way. 'Sounds like he just wants to mess with me a little.'

"…Fine." The student said after a short pause. In reality, he knew that he needed to fix his taijutsu. It was sub-par at best. Okay, maybe he was giving himself a little too much credit. He sucked at taijutsu.

Jiraiya nodded and lowered back into his stance. While he was certainly going to have his fun, evaluating the boy's hand to hand combat abilities were the most important thing at the moment.

"Oh, and by the way. You can't use shadow clones."

"WHATTT?" He shouted incredulously. "Why not?!" His clones were incorporated heavily into his own unique style of taijutsu. Being unable to use his best weapon puts him at an even bigger disadvantage than he was already at.

Jiraiya sighed. "Listen, kid. You can't always be constantly relying on your clones to do all the work." Voice stern and unbending. "Shadow clones are a great tool in your arsenal, but you are using them the wrong way."

Naruto was confused. "What do you mean the wrong way?"

"They're a crutch. You've been using your clones to hide your deficiencies. Your taijutsu isn't that good, so you use clones to try and overwhelm your opponent. You can't make a Rasengan by yourself, so you use a clone to rotate the chakra for you." He continued. "What I want us to do is to strengthen those deficiencies, so you don't have to spend exorbitant amounts of chakra to even out the playing field with your opponent by using clones. Imagine what you could do with all of that extra chakra that wouldn't be wasted on unnecessary clones!"

While Naruto was slightly hurt by the words, he understood what his master was saying. And he even agreed with him. In reality, when something took too much effort for the boy to completely master, he used clones to patch up the holes in his skillset. It was a habit that he wasn't even aware he had.

Jiraiya suddenly disappeared, snapping him back to reality. He appeared in front of the blond, aiming a kick at his chest.

Acting solely on his reflexes, he crossed his arms in front of himself as a guard. The force of the kick, which was much stronger than the blond had anticipated, sent him tumbling through the air.

The ground did little to soften the boys landing as he skidded to a painful stop. 'I didn't even see him move!' He thought to himself frantically as he began to pick himself up.

"Don't expect your opponent to just wait for you!" The sage was forced to yell due to the now great distance that was between the two of them. "You must be prepared at all times!"

Naruto sighed. His master could be a real slave driver when he wanted to be. 'This is what I asked for, though. I know I'll get a lot stronger if all of the training is like this.'

His eyes widened as a shadow appeared at his feet. And it was quickly getting bigger. He contorted his body just enough so that he barely managed to dodge the foot that landed where his body had just been. The sheer force cracked the ground beneath them and sent a small vibration throughout his body.

He rolled away and scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could. Without even thinking about it, his hand flew into his signature seal. Realizing that he was about to use his clones, he forced himself to stop, and instead, summoned forth a string of curses.

'Dammit.' He thought angrily while looking at his hands. 'I really do rely on my clones too much!'

"Is there a problem Naruto?" He heard Jiraiya call out to him. Without even looking up at the sage, he could already see that smug 'I told you so' smirk that he would occasionally wear.

Naruto clenched his hands so hard that they nearly shook. He always thought that he was a pretty well-rounded ninja… except for his genjutsu.

But it turns out that he wasn't. While everyone one around him was getting stronger and learning new things, he was stuck relying on the same two techniques to win all of his battles. The Rasengan and shadow clones. And he couldn't even make a decent Rasengan, or passable taijutsu, without the use of his clones!

He was one-dimensional, and he knew it. It wasn't hopeless, though. That's what he was training with one of the Sannin for. A Sannin that already identified something he himself hadn't even thought about. A smirk appeared across his face. 'I'm finally learning some useful stuff.'

"No, sensei. There's no problem." He knew he needed to get stronger as fast as possible. That meant dwelling on the negative, when it would do him no good, would be useless.

Jiraiya's eyebrow rose, but he didn't say anything. Well, more accurately, he couldn't say anything. His student had actually called him sensei for what might have been the first time! He couldn't believe it! He did his best to not mention or make a big deal about it, hoping that saying nothing would finally mean the end of 'Ero-Sennin'.

Naruto threw himself at the sage with everything that he had. If he wanted to get even one hit on his master in, he would have to go all out. With his noticeably increased speed, he aimed a punch at the Sannin's gut.

Jiraiya blocked it with an open palm and was almost surprised by how much power was behind it. "Not bad." He appraised. "But you'll need more than just a little power to beat me."

Naruto growled in response to the taunt. Dropping to the ground, he kicked his foot out for a leg sweep. Jiraiya was two steps ahead of him and easily jumped over it. Naruto smirked.

The blond twisted his body and planted his arms on the ground. He threw a powerful kick upwards, aimed at his teacher's sternum. It was met by Jiraiya's patiently awaiting guard, but with nothing to resist the force of the kick except for gravity, he was launched into the air.

Naruto quickly followed him into the air, trying to capitalize on his slight advantage. Just as he got in reach, the sage recovered and brought his fists down on the stunned genin's head.

Spiraling to the ground with no hopes of stopping, he was barely able to shift his body enough so as not to land on his head. His back slammed into the unforgiving ground, causing a grunt of pain to escape his lips.

Picking himself up, he watched his sensei land lightly a few yards away from him. The blond appeared to be favoring his right shoulder but was otherwise in good shape. Reaching for his kunai pouch, he hesitated. 'I don't know if I can use kunai or shuriken.' Instead, he discreetly took out two smoke bombs from his pouch and quickly tried to formulate a plan.

Before he could even use them, his opponent appeared in front of him. "As I said, don't expect your opponent to wait for you." Startled, the boy accidentally dropped both of the bombs.

They went off, forming a rather large cloud of black smoke. Jiraiya, surprised, coughed as he unexpectedly inhaled some of the smoke. Naruto, now aware of where his sensei was, threw several punches and kicks in his direction.

Despite not being able to see, Jiraiya parried every single one. The blond's strikes weren't fast enough and he was able to tell by the shifting of the smoke where they were coming from.

Naruto grunted in frustration and leaped out of the smoke, Jiraiya followed in pursuit. He was putting constant pressure on his student.

Naruto stopped and feinted with his right hand and threw a straight left at his opponent's chest. The punch was far too telegraphed, and the sage sidestepped it. He retaliated with a knee aimed for his student's gut. With Naruto's increased strength, he slammed his palms down on the rising knee, forcing a surprised Jiraiya to stumble forward. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the blond launched forward and slammed the top of his head into Jiraiya's chin.

'Bong!'

The strike found its mark and Naruto almost began to celebrate… only for 'Jiraiya' to disappear in a cloud of smoke, replaced by a wooden log.

"Hey!" He pointed a finger accusingly at the offending piece of wood. "What the hell! No ninjutsu during taijutsu-only sparring!"

Jiraiya, who was walking out from behind a tree, could only grin sheepishly. "I don't know what you're talking about, gaki!"

The blond huffed in annoyance at his teacher's dirty trick. He lowered back into his stance but was waved off by his senior.

"That's enough for now, Naruto."

Upon hearing those words, the blonds apparent fatigue began to catch up with him. He sat down to rest a little. "How did I do?" There was genuine curiosity in his voice. Considering he was a second away from breaking his teacher's jaw, his performance was better than even his wildest expectations.

"You did a lot better than I expected, gaki." His mentor said with a big grin. "Even though it has only been a week, I can already see and feel the difference that those weights have had on your speed and strength. I underestimated you towards the end, there."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I definitely noticed a difference too." He looked at the deactivated weights on his limbs with a newfound appreciation. "No wonder bushy brow was able to get so fast." He said aloud, more to himself than to Jiraiya.

"However." The sage continued. "That doesn't mean that there is no room for improvement.

Naruto frowned. "What do ya mean? I thought I did pretty good!"

Jiraiya smirked at his protégé's defensiveness. "You're too wild when you fight. You have to work on being more patient and controlled." Jiraiya rubbed his chin, thankful he avoided losing some teeth from his dense-headed godson's headbutt. "You're very unorthodox, so I think in the future we are going to work on your counter striking. That, mixed with your unorthodox attacks, will give your opponents fits!"

"I think it's fine the way it is." He grumbled to himself. "It's always worked for me before."

"That was before, this is now!" Naruto was startled by the sudden increase in volume. " You have S-Ranked ninja looking for you, ninja as strong, if not stronger than me! Lashing out and hoping to hit something is only going to get you killed!"

Naruto, who was about to retort, closed his mouth. The sage was right, and he knew it. With everyone in the Akatsuki potentially being on the same level as people like Orochimaru, he would have to improve drastically in every facet of his abilities.

The student sent back a weak nod of confirmation. He was both nervous and excited about the prospect of facing off against the Akatsuki. Remembering his first encounter with Itachi and the man who looked like a shark sent shivers down his spine.

"Good." The older man responded simply.

Naruto shifted, unsure of what was coming next. "So, what are we going to do ne-"

"Ha!"

"Wha-, Ah!" With the weights now activated again, the surprised blond crumpled to the ground.

"What the hell, you bastard! I thought you said no weights today!" Naruto struggled to move, quickly finding out he was unable to. "And this is way more than the usual weight!" He noticed his master's big smile. "How can you go from super serious, to a big idiot in just a few seconds!? Let me up!"

Jiraiya let out a bark of laughter and wiped a single tear from the corner of his eye, all while ignoring the vulgar language of his student. "Man, that never gets old." He said with a wide grin.

"I said let me up!" The angry child repeated.

"Once you get up, I'll deactivate them. Hurry up, I have a few taijutsu scrolls I want to show you!"

After nearly a minute of watching his ward struggle to get to his feet, he was getting a little impatient. "Hey! Get up lazy, we don't have all day!"

His godson just grumbled in response, still valiantly attempted to stand up.

"If you don't soon, I'm going to increase the weight."

"How the hell is that going to help anything!?"

* * *

-3 Months Later-

'Poof'

"Heh, there's only 5 left." A very beat up Naruto said proudly after dispelling another copy of himself.

"You shouldn't be acting so smug!" Jiraiya shouted, sitting atop a high tree branch, resting his back against its trunk. "You look like total crap!"

Naruto ignored his sensei and shifted his attention to the 5 remaining clones. He knew his teacher was just messing with him, he was just too exhausted to care.

The reason he was so worn out from just battling his clones was that it was Sunday. For the past 3 months, every Sunday consisted of his hybrid sessions, where he would usually fight his clones while weighed down by hundreds of pounds of gravitationally augmented training weights. As he found out before, clones of seals did not abide by the same restrictions of the original, making his shadow clones very difficult sparing partners perfect for his hybrid training.

"Yeah." One of the Naruto's snickered. "You do look like crap!"

The original didn't appreciate that tone in the slightest. He decided the obnoxious one would be his next victim. Lunging, his muscles burned from carrying all of the extra weight for so long, but he ignored it.

The punch he threw was rather sluggish and the much faster clone dodged it easily. With all the weight the original was swinging around blocking proved completely ineffective, something a few poor clones had found out in the beginning. Because of this, they were forced to evade their summoners strikes.

The doppelganger countered with a barrage of fast punches, putting the real blond on defense. With great difficulty, he was able to block and parry most of the punches. What few blows found their mark were merely light grazes the slower blond couldn't completely evade.

A second clone leaped behind him, hoping to take him out and end the battle right there. The much heavier genin smirked.

Just as the clone was about to land on him and declare victory, his target sidestepped and grabbed the surprised clone's arm as he sailed past him. With all of his strength, he swung the clone around and hit the copy of himself he had just been trading blows with.

This exchange resulted in 2 very satisfying 'poofs.'

'3 left.' He thought to himself.

50 clones were whittled down to 3 in just under 2 hours and the ones remaining did not want to join the other 47.

They jumped at him from different directions as a last-ditch attempt to win.

Naruto's eyes were wide with fear and the clones were sure that he would not be able to evade all 3 of them. He wasn't fast enough.

Instead of panicking, the blond simply reacted. Pumping his legs full of his remaining chakra, he leaped high into the air.

The clone's eyes widened simultaneously in shock. Unable to alter their trajectory, they crashed head first into one another.

'Poof'

Naruto landed on his back with a resounding 'thud' several feet away from where he had been. He was so heavy that the ground cracked beneath him upon impact. Having finally won, the genin would have let out a cheer if a groan hadn't escaped his lips first.

Jiraiya dropped down next to him. "I think that's the first time you've beaten all of them." His master said proudly. "It's especially impressive considering we only bumped up the weight a week or 2 ago."

"Dammit, sensei." His pupil said through grit teeth. "Just how much did you increase the weight by, anyway?"

"I think you're at about 14 times gravity, now. Meaning that the weights are totaling around 420 pounds." The sage said after some thought.

Naruto, despite the pain he was feeling, smiled in response. "I finally beat all 50 of them. I told you I'd do it today!"

His teacher rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You've been saying the same thing for almost 2 weeks now, of course, it was eventually going to come true."

The collapsed blond chuckled. "Doesn't matter. I still did it."

"That you did." He confirmed. "And I have to say, using your clones like this was a really good idea."

"Yeah, I know." The young author said as he got up to his feet. "Not only are they worthy sparring partners when I'm weighed down, but I think the experience I get from them is helping me improve my taijutsu that much faster!"

So far, in the three months, since he had started his training, Naruto has noticed massive changes in his physique. Once a scrawny, malnourished-looking squirt, he was packing on muscle at an alarming rate. Jiraiya told him that it wasn't only because he was training heavy, but because he was eating more than just ramen. Lean meats and nutrient dense vegetables were some of the foods the sage insisted his student eat after every training session. However, the genin thought he was just saying that to trick the blond into eating foods that were 'better' for him.

Strength and speed were also something that increased exponentially. When his weights were deactivated on his taijutsu days, he felt light as a feather. Despite that, his punches generated a lot of force. Enough to the point that Jiraiya couldn't lazily block his punches anymore without hurting the palms of his hands. Lastly, his taijutsu was much more polished than it had been before. While it was a far cry from being complete in the Sannin's eyes, he was working on becoming a more patient, counter-striking type fighter, and it was showing.

If he kept getting stronger at this pace, he couldn't even imagine what he would be like by the time he returned to the village.

Currently, they were using a clearing on the South-Eastern edge of the land of fire, about 20 or so miles from the open waters that would take a person straight to the Land of Water. The sage and student had been there for about 3 weeks, so it was once again almost time to begin to pack up their things and continue on their adventure.

"Kid." Naruto looked up at his teacher, who was sporting a proud smile. "You're coming along great!"

Naruto put his hands behind his head and returned the smile.

"So good, in fact, I think you've deserved the rest of the day off." The Sannin made a hand sign, and the blond sighed in relief as he became several hundreds of pounds lighter.

This caused Naruto's eyes to sparkle in gratitude, but his sensei didn't want him to get too comfortable. "Don't get too cocky, though. We start right back up in the morning with weighted training."

Naruto swiftly nodded in agreement. "I'm gonna celebrate with some instant ramen!" Now that Jiraiya complained whenever he ate ramen too much, the blond usually saved it for times he felt were special occasions.

"That's all you ate for the first month, how do you still have more of that stuff packed with you?" His master asked incredulously.

"I bought a ton of it before we left Tanzaku town." His ward answered simply. "Since you haven't been letting me eat it as much, I still have some left in my bag." The blond realized something. Something of the utmost importance. "Speaking of which, when are we going to be camped near a town? I'll need to buy more soon!"

"Funny you mention that." The older man acknowledged. "I was thinking that we should head of North in the next week."

"What's North?"

"The Land of Hot Water. More specifically, The Village Hidden in Hot Water."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. That village was known more as a tourist spot than a Hidden Village. A tourist spot with a lot of hot springs and pretty women.

"Hey!" He pointed an accusing finger at his sensei. "You better not be thinking of perving around when you said you were gonna put all of your attention into training me!"

The white-haired man began to sob. "I wish!" His continued weeping was similar to a dog being told he couldn't go for a walk outside. "The progress of my next Icha-Icha book is coming along rather slowly, buy my word is my word, and I intend to keep it."

"So, that's not what this is for?" He asked, still suspicious of his sensei's intentions.

"It will be perfect for someone who's training as hard as you." Naruto's ear perked up in sudden interest. "The hot springs will relax and soothe your body's muscles, allowing you to recover faster. Have you been feeling extra sore, as of late?"

The blond rotated his shoulder and grimaced. Now that Jiraiya mentioned it, everything ached. When they had first begun their training a few months ago, he was sore, but not to this extent. Feeling crappy was just something he had grown accustomed to feeling when he woke up in the morning.

"Actually, yeah."

"With all the work you've been doing these past months, it's put some wear and tear on your body. However, I don't want us to lower the intensity of your training, because I believe the progress you're making is too good to stop." He explained. "A month of using the hot springs after long days of difficult training will give your body some much needed TLC, while we train at the same time!"

"Sounds good to me! It'd be great if we could stop by the Land of Waves, too! It's on the way and I have some friends there that I haven't seen in a while!"

Jiraiya was about to reply, but something made him stop. He felt uneasy. Everything in his body was screaming at him that something was wrong. The rate of his heartbeat quickened slightly. 'What is that?' He thought, remaining outwardly calm as not to worry his student. His eyes scanned their training ground, but he could not detect anything. Slowly, the feeling began to go away.

He glanced over at his ward, who was already starting a fire to heat the water for his instant ramen. The look of excitement and innocence on his godson's face only further allowed him to calm down. 'Am I going crazy?'

"We found you!" A voice said from the trees surrounding them.

Jiraiya, and now even Naruto, were on full alert as several figures busted through the dense forest.

"What are you doing here? How did you find this place?"

There were 8 men, each wearing identical black cloaks and different masks that appeared to represent animals. A man with a bear mask stepped forward with a scroll in hand. "Lady Hokage recently received an update from one of your contacts. She has requested your assistance on an S-Rank mission." The man said with an even tone.

Having been recently tasked giving Naruto his full attention while they were away, he relinquished most of his duties regarding his spy network to the village. While he had sent his messenger toads out once or twice in the past few months, he mostly stayed uninvolved and allowed the ANBU assigned directly to the Hokage to meet with his contacts. Couldn't let that rat Danzo get his hands on his network of informants.

The Sannin took the scroll and began to open it. "I'll ask again, how were you able to find us here?" He began to scan the scrolls while waiting for an answer to his question.

The ANBU member shifted uncomfortably. It's not every day you have to deal with a displeased Sannin. The Hokage was bad enough. "Lady Hokage was very determined in finding you. So determined, in fact, that she asked the toads where you were currently located. We came right away."

"Pa ratted me out." He grumbled to himself more than to anyone who happened to be listening.

Coming back to reality, he continued reading the scroll from Tsunade. His eyes widened.

'According to one of your informants, there has been some unusual movement by the Akatsuki around the location of The Village Hidden Hot Water. I know that you have your hands full with Naruto, but because the Hot Water village has demilitarized itself as of late, they do not have the manpower to appropriately react to an Akatsuki attack. Also, they know of your reputation and will only settle for you to undertake this mission, I wouldn't have contacted you otherwise. Tell Naruto that I'm sorry, but they are our ally's and if the Akatsuki are involved we must act.'

Jiraiya sighed in annoyance. 'Guess I wasn't going crazy, after all.' He mused to himself.

…

Several meters away, this time unnoticed by Jiraiya, something rose up from the trees in the dense forest outside of the training grounds. When the Sannin stopped moving and began to scan the area he thought he had been found out. Thankfully, the ANBU swooped in like the idiots they are and stopped a near disaster. The strange being eyed the group, eyes eventually falling on a blond clad in an orange jumpsuit. Face twisted in a cruel smile, his lowered himself back down, disappearing back into the tree. No trace of him left.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter got away from me (7000 words! Wow!). There was so much I wanted to include in here, and it needed to end where it ended. I hope that it doesn't drag on too long, I'm used to writing chapters in the 4000-5000 word range so let me know what you think! I'll still probably try to stick to the shorter chapter lengths, though. Otherwise, it would take a lot longer for me to write them.**


	7. Foggy Memories

**AN: Welcome back all returning reader and all new readers. I've been really happy with all the positive reviews that this FanFic has received. I know it sounds corny, but your reviews motivate me to continue to write chapters. So don't stop now, even if they are negative. It is all welcome!**

 **As for the chapter, I am very pleased with how it turned out. It took a lot of effort to write it just the way I wanted it, but I don't know if that makes it any good or not lol. I am incredibly interested about what you think of it!**

 **Also, I updated my Author profile for those who don't check those sorts of things. If you want a status on when the next chapter will come out or how much of it I have completed and you don't want to PM me, I will be regularly updating on my page my progress on the upcoming chapters. Just wanted to let you guys know! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Chapter 7: Foggy Memories

 **Location: ?**

A man was sitting at a desk drumming his fingers along the table. The man was bald and had black eyes, a black beard, and black eyebrows. Above his right eyebrow and on his right cheek, he has 2 big scars. His attire consisted of a light grey cloak with black buttons. He was staring at a page in a book which had the picture of a much older man with grey hair and glasses. Being there for what seemed like too long, he let out a yawn. He closed the book. Waiting around for something to happen usually made up most of his day.

There was a soft 'click' that caught the man's attention. He glanced over at the wall and on queue, a section of the wall fell over. Through it walked a rather tall man, half of his face covered by a grey mask. He had what appeared to be blood staining the left sleeve of his cloak.

"Hm." The bald man's lips curved upward into what appeared to be a small smirk. He recognized this man. "You are one of the last people I expected to see. What are you doing here?" He had a deep, almost friendly voice.

"You know, just in the area." The taller man's voice was deep and gruff, differing drastically to the man who remained seated. He wasn't looking at the man who asked him the question, his cautious eyes were too busy scanning the room for potential threats. It was a habit that someone who lived his kind of lifestyle needed to adopt to stay alive. Not out of fear, but necessity.

"It's just me."

"I know."

"Last time you were here, you said it would be a long time before I saw you again." Despite being before an intimidating presence, the scarred man seemed relaxed.

"That was supposed to be the plan, but… some things have changed." Gruff voice betraying no emotion.

"Changed how?" The bald man pressed. Being holed up in this room for most of the day, every day, any kind of conversation or stimulation he could get was much appreciated.

"I'm on my way to meet someone." The visitor's responses remained vague. It was not because he was trying to hide something, he just was a man of few words. "Because I'll be in that area, I was wondering if you had any 'work' for me, Zangei?"

"Is that what you're calling it, now?" The man now referred to as Zangei allowed himself a small chuckle. "Where is it that you're heading?"

"South-East." The masked-man replied.

Zangei was used to this. The man had never been much of a talker. "South-East, huh? I may have one." He re-opened the book and began flipping through its pages. 'Land of Lightning, no. Land of Water, no. Hidden Stone Village, no.' He said aloud as he looked for the appropriate page.

He flipped to the page that he had happened to be staring at earlier. "Ah. Here it is." He turned the book around so the mysterious visitor could see. "It isn't anything too special, but it's something at the very least."

The mysterious visitor eyed the page, memorizing it instantly. He never forgot a face. Doing this for so long, forgetting things was something that you just couldn't do. "Only 250,000." Had it been any other man, you would have been able to hear the displeasure in their voice, but his tone almost always remained the same.

"As I said, nothing too special." The bald man repeated. "This is all I have in that area."

"This seems like an easy quarter million. Why hasn't this been taken by someone already?" He wasn't wary, just mildly interested.

"A rather large group of bandits had apparently tried a few months back. A lot of them didn't survive. No one else wants to take it. They think it isn't worth the money." He explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if it never got taken."

"Normally, I wouldn't take something that had such a small reward, but I guess the circumstances are not exactly normal."

Zangei chose to remain silent, allowing the much larger man to continue.

"Tell whoever put it up that I'm doing it, but for half a million." Zangei could tell just from the man's voice that he was not asking. "He should consider himself lucky, if not for me this 'work' would go undone, even for 500,000. He is lucky I don't charge him more."

A drop of sweat rolled down the man's forehead, catching itself in his scarred brow. "I will make sure he gets your message." Zangei, despite having a rather friendly business relationship with his current guest, was smart enough to choose his words carefully when around him. He valued his life.

"Good." Was his simple reply as he walked towards the opening in the wall. He stopped walking and turned around. "Make it fast, this won't take long. If he has an issue with my terms, well, he and I will have a conversation about it when I'm done."

Zangei swiftly nodded as he watched the man walk out and the wall lift back up to close behind him. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Such intensity…"

* * *

 **Location: South-Eastern Land of Fire**

The blond Genin, who was currently slurping down the last of his instant noodles and salty broth, was watching Jiraiya and the ANBU talk from a decent distance away. He couldn't hear what any of them were saying, but based on his master's expression, it was pretty serious. The sage's expression suddenly changed after reading through a scroll that one of the ANBU had handed to him.

'I wonder what's going on?' Curiosity now piqued, he put down the now finished cup of instant ramen and made his way over to the adults. "What's going on?" He asked innocently, mild amounts of concern present in his voice.

Jiraiya, still processing everything that he was being told, barely heard his protégé's question. He turned to him, absentmindedly tucking the scroll he had been reading into one of his pockets. "Hm?" He asked before his brain was able to process what was said. "Oh, it appears I'm being assigned to an emergency mission from Tsunade." He explained vaguely.

Naruto's brow furled in confusion. "A mission? But Granny Tsunade knows that you're supposed to be training me! Why would she assign you to a mission?" Something seemed a little off to the Uzumaki, but he wasn't sure what.

"It appears I was specifically requested to handle this mission. It's an important S-Rank mission, and since I've completed over 130 S-Rank missions, I guess my reputation proceeds me." He puffed out his chest, completing his boast. Technically it wasn't a lie, just an omission of the entire truth. Jiraiya is the most prolific and active ninja currently alive in the Hidden Leaf Village. With over 1,000 completed missions under his belt, his abilities are recognized by many across the shinobi world.

While upset for their training being cut short, Naruto had the sudden realization that he might be able to tag along with Jiraiya on this super-important, high-profile mission. The thought of being able to test out some of the new strength he gained excited him.

Jiraiya saw his student's reaction and was quick to shut down that type of thinking. "Not a chance, kid." The blond blinked, his lips curving slightly to form a small frown. "This is going to be a dangerous mission. You're only a genin, there's no way you can come with me."

The stern look the Sannin gave him quickly crushed his hopes. "But, why?" He asked in an attempt to persuade his teacher. "I've been on dangerous missions before! Why is this one any different?"

"Because I said so." To which the blond rolled his eyes in annoyance.

In actuality, Jiraiya could not let Naruto go on this mission with the possibility that the Akatsuki could show up. Sure, the toad sage was confident in his abilities to take on one, maybe two members at the same time, but the risk that more of them could be in the area surrounding the Land of Hot Water made it too risky to bring his godson with him. Besides, even if he could take on Akatsuki members, doing that while also watching out for Naruto's well-being would be a tall task even for him.

Also, the Akatsuki being spotted in an area not only too close for comfort to their current location but also where he and the blond were about to go, made him uneasy. In this instance, caution was necessary to ensure the safety of his ward.

Naruto just grumbled something about 'unfair-adults'.

"It shouldn't take long, Naruto." He attempted to reassure his student. Jiraiya was hopeful that all he would have to do is meet with his contact and clarify a few things. This was clearly either a misunderstanding or incorrect information. According to some very reliable intel he received a while back, the Akatsuki wasn't supposed to make much noise for another couple of years. Why would they suddenly move now, of all times? It didn't make sense, especially around the Land of Hot Water.

"Then, if you're going to go on this mission, what about me?" He asked the white-haired sage. "You're supposed to be my protection, too!"

"That is why we are here." The ANBU member with a bear mask spoke with a monotonous tone. He seemed to be the leader of the small team of elite ninja. "We are the ANBU assigned directly to the Hokage herself, our mission is to ensure your safety."

They had been standing there so silently that the blond had forgotten they even existed. Naruto looked at the 8 intimidating figures that joined him and his master in the clearing. One, in particular, caught his attention above all of the others. The ANBU member was wearing a mask that resembled that of a cat with green and red markings. The blond wasn't sure why, but there was something different about him, he could feel it. Similar to the other cloaked figures, however, the cat ANBU exuded a quiet intensity. Even though their seriousness and intensity made him uncomfortable, they looked pretty strong. Strong enough to protect him in case anything goes wrong.

The blond nodded, seemingly content with their answer to his question. "So, are you guys taking me to that place?" His eyes squinted in thought as he tried to remember where Jiraiya said they were going. "The Village Hidden in Hot Water?"

It was Jiraiya's turn to chime in. "No, Naruto. When I'm done with this mission maybe we'll be able to go there, but not right now."

"Why not?" The genin asked, slightly disappointed at not being able to relax in the hot spring.

"Because, we can only stay in one place for so long, remember? If you're there but we aren't doing any meaningful training, then it's just a waste of a great training location." Again, partially truthful, partially deceitful. While that explanation made perfect sense, it was obvious that ANBU bodyguards or not, it was too dangerous for him to be there right now.

"Well, then where am I supposed to go? We've already been here for quite a bit, isn't it time to move?"

The blond made a good point. That was something that hadn't even crossed the sage's mind. He was too busy focusing on the mission just assigned to him. Jiraiya suddenly remembered something his protégé had said earlier.

"You said you had some friends you wanted to visit in the Land of Waves?" To which the blond swiftly nodded in agreeance. "You can stay there. It's on the way to where I'm going so I can travel with you until we reach it. Think of it as a small vacation from all of the hard work you've put in over the past few months."

The 13-year-old's eyes lit up. The thought of being able to see Inari, old-man Tazuna, and Tsunami almost made him completely forget about the Hot Water Village and Jiraiya's secret mission. Not only that, but taking a break from training for a couple of days was music to the blond's ears.

Jiraiya smiled. Either he knew exactly what to say to his student, or the boy was just really easy to distract sometimes. "Let's pack up our stuff, gaki. Your friends are waiting for you."

…

Shortly after, Naruto and Jiraiya had packed up all of their belongings and set off for the Land of Waves with an ANBU escort. At first, they moved swiftly in hopes of getting to their destination before nightfall. Now that they were close and making good time, they slowed down their pace to a hurried walk.

Student and teacher were walking side by side with the ANBU team split up into two groups of four. Four were positioned behind the genin and sage, and 4 were in front of them.

Naruto glanced behind him. His gaze was returned by the ANBU member who adorned the cat mask with the green and red markings. This alone shouldn't have seemed out of the ordinary. After all, the ANBU unit was tasked with ensuring the safety of the young blond. What made it strange was that out of all of the eight members, the cat was the only one that was staring at him.

"Is something wrong, Uzumaki-san?" The masked man said after Naruto had been staring back at him for some time.

The way the man spoke caused Naruto to shudder, though he didn't know why. Something about this ANBU member gave him the creeps! "N-No." He sputtered out. "Everything is fine, uh, cat guy." He finished lamely after being unsure of what to call him.

"Call me… Uddo." The man said after a short pause in the same creepy tone.

That was odd. To the genin, it almost seemed like the man was unsure of what to call himself.

Naruto just nodded weakly as his head snapped back in the direction he was walking. He leaned to his right where his mentor was standing and began to whisper. "Do I really have to stay with these guys? Some of them are pretty creepy!" He pleaded.

The Sannin sighed. "Yes, you do." To which Naruto frowned. "They aren't that bad, they just take their work more seriously than you or I. Didn't you know that Kakashi used to be an ANBU captain?"

"Really?" The blond asked, completely surprised.

"Yes, really. There's nothing to be worried about. Kakashi isn't that weird, right?" He rested his hand on top of his godsons spiky-haired head. "We're coming up on your destination now, so it's time I go meet with my contact."

Naruto sighed but nodded reluctantly. "Make sure you come back fast so we can start training again." The sage's student mentally berated himself. He wanted to say a lot more than that. What Naruto really wanted to tell his sensei was that he wished him good luck on his mission and that he hoped he came back safe. For some reason, however, his brain couldn't find the right words.

Jiraiya chuckled, unaware of the blonds inward conflict. "I will, gaki. But don't think that just because I'm away you won't be training at all!" The sage flashed a toothy grin. "Can't have you slacking and getting rusty while I'm away."

Naruto huffed. "I know, I know. You told me already, perv!" He retorted while crossing his arms across his chest.

"And remember." Jiraiya's voice grew more serious. "Remember what I said. No more than 5 clones for at most 3 hours at a time."

Naruto, also growing more serious, nodded in understanding.

"Good." His master flashed a confident thumbs-up. "See ya!" As he disappeared in a plume of smoke.

…

It would soon be dark out; the sky was a beautiful orange hue as the sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon. If the blond had to guess, it was about 7 P.M. Due to it being later in the day, the bridge did not have anyone walking on it. Unbeknownst to the Uzumaki, the daytime traffic the bridge saw was filled with those importing and exporting goods out of the village. The money this brought in was substantial. In short, it was a huge success for Tazuna and the Land of Waves as a whole.

"The Great… Naruto Bridge?" The Uzumaki rubbed his eyes, assuming that doing so would cause the words he was reading to change into what they were supposed to be. He opened his eyes back up. They were still the same. He felt something well up in his chest, unsure of what to think or how to feel in this moment.

On one hand, he felt honored that the people of the Land of Waves would name the most important thing their village ever produced after his namesake. On the other hand, he felt guilty about it. In his opinion, he was not the most important factor in the struggle against Gato. 'If anything, they should have named it after Kakashi-Sensei.' He thought to himself, unaware of how his passion and determination inspired Inari and the rest of the citizens of the land to finally stand up to their oppressor.

"Are you alright, Uzumaki-san?" One of his personal bodyguards, who wore a mask that depicted a fierce lion, asked.

"Y-Yeah." He sputtered out in response. "Just a little shocked is all. I didn't know that they named this bridge after me."

The man named Uddo decided to chime in this time. "Ah, yes. The Black Ops are very aware of the mission you had in this land under the guidance of Kakashi-Senpai." The respect he had for the former special forces captain was clear in the way he spoke about him.

'I guess Ero-Sennin wasn't lying about Kakashi-Sensei being an ANBU captain.' The genin thought to himself, slightly shocked that his master was telling him the truth for once.

He was about to respond, but something made him stop. A dense fog was beginning to roll in off the ocean. That coupled with the orange glow from the sunset triggered brief flashes of events he did not remember to appear before his eyes. So brief that he didn't really understand what was happening. The blond attempted to reach for those memories again, but they were gone as swiftly as they had arrived. He shut his eyelids, the sudden imagery giving him the beginning of a pounding headache.

'That's strange. What was that?' He felt uneasy, but he was unsure why.

"…Naruto?"

A surprised voice broke him from his trance. He began to take in his surroundings. He was staring at a rather large house with a small boy sitting on the steps that led up to the front door. The entire time he had been deep in thought, his feet were subconsciously taking him back to the first place he stayed that was outside the protective walls of the Leaf Village.

"Inari." A big smile appeared on the genin's face. "How's it going, kid!"

"Naruto!" The black-haired boy, still wearing his white and blue hat, rushed over to his friend and gave him a hug. "What are you doing here?!" He asked excitedly.

Naruto patted Inari on the head and chuckled slightly at his enthusiasm. It reminded him of Kohohamaru. "It's a long story, but I should introduce these guys first. You're probably wondering who they are." He turned around to introduce his team of bodyguards. "Eh?" Only no one was to be seen.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" He asked with a confused expression on his face. "There's no one there."

The Leaf Village's number one hyperactive knucklehead clenched his fists in annoyance. 'Stupid ANBU. They could have told me they were gonna do that. Now I look stupid!' He was slightly bitter, but he wasn't gonna let that ruin this great day.

Naruto simply reached back and scratched his head, letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Never mind, don't mind me."

"Are you gonna be here long?! Do you need a place to stay?" Naruto didn't know it, but Inari idolized him. After all, after the passing of his adoptive father Kaiza, he was the one who got him to believe in the existence of heroes again.

"That would be great! Are you sure it's okay?"

"Are you kidding? Mom and Grandpa always say you're welcome here whenever you want!" He was beaming. "Let's go inside, it's getting late and I'm sure they want to see you, too!"

Before he even knew it, Naruto was being dragged inside.

Just atop the house, 8 figures landed silently. The ANBU team was under the strict orders of the Hokage herself to not be seen by anyone. They couldn't risk their presence raising any questions or causing any sort of panic. After exchanging glances, they nodded to one another in understanding. They all dispersed in different directions. They would guard the boy by setting up a perimeter until the Sannin returned.

…

After being invited into the house by Inari, he was met with the surprised, but pleased, reactions of Tazuna and Tsunami. Almost instantly, as if a member of the family himself, Naruto was invited to take a seat at the table. Dinner was almost ready and Tazuna was sure there would be much to talk about today.

Now Tazuna, Inari, and Naruto were sitting around the dinner table, while Tsunami was finishing preparing the food. All four of them were smiling happily

"You know, kid." The old man began, sipping on what appeared to be a glass of some sort of alcohol the genin couldn't identify. "We were all just thinking about when you were gonna pay us that visit that you promised. Although, I was kind of expecting the other members of your team to be here as well. How are Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke doing? Good, I hope." He finished, bringing the glass to his lips, the ice clinking against the sides of the cup.

Sasuke was still a sore spot that he didn't really want to talk about. Though, that wasn't Tazuna's fault. How could he possibly know that?

Naruto's face darkened a bit, but no one noticed. Inari was too young to understand, Tsunami had been facing away from them while preparing the food, though she was intently listening, and Tazuna was already getting a bit tipsy. His cheeks were a tad flush.

This gave the Uzumaki enough time to recover so he could put on his brave face. "They're all doing great!" He gave his best attempt to be enthusiastic. "I'm sure they would have all loved to come with me, but I'm actually away from the village right now training with my…"He trailed off, unsure of what title to give to Jiraiya. "Mentor." He finished lamely.

"Where is this man right now?" Tsunami asked, motherly instinct kicking in. "If he's supposed to be your guardian while you're out of the village, shouldn't he be with you?"

"That's where it gets a little complicated." Naruto began to explain. "See, he got assigned a super important mission that he said was too dangerous for me to go on. And since we weren't too far away from the Land of Waves I asked if it would be okay if I stayed with you guys until he got back!"

"He just dropped you off without saying a word?" Tsunami's voice betrayed a touch of sadness. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but when he comes to get you, I'm gonna have to teach this man some manners." While she was saying that she was smacking a rolling pin against the palm of her hand.

Naruto laughed awkwardly. "It's not like that!" He reassured. "He left before we even got here. I got escorted by members of the Leaf's ANBU. They aren't very good with conversation so they're probably watching the house from a distance to make sure I'm safe."

"ANBU, huh?" Tazuna grumbled.

"You know about them?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Funny enough, when requesting my mission from the Leaf Village I wanted to be escorted by ANBU. I heard they were strong, but I was told I didn't have enough, money. So I got stuck with you!" He let out a bellowing laugh, nearly spilling his freshly refilled glass of alcohol.

Naruto sweat dropped at the old man's actions.

"Those guys are high-profile, how did a squirt like you manage to get watched by a whole team of them?" There was a touch of concern in his voice. He cared for the boy, so if he was in trouble, he would help to make sure he was okay.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Oh, well, you know, it's just precaution. I'm a genin outside of my ninja village." He leaned in and flashed a confident smile. "Besides, the Hokage loves me." He didn't want to make them worry and telling them that an extremely dangerous criminal organization was after him would do just that.

Tazuna returned the smile. "Oh, didn't know our dinner guest had all of these connections." He teased lightly.

"Wow." Inari exclaimed. "So cool! I bet you're really important in your village!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, when you put it like that… I'm pretty great, aren't I!" He boasted shamelessly.

"Alright, everyone." Tsunami caught everyone's attention as she began placing food on the table. "While I'm sure we all want to hear about all of the stories Naruto has, he's probably very hungry. You guys remember how much he ate last time he was here." She finished with a small chuckle.

Naruto's eyes practically bulged out of his head. Last time he ate Tsunami's cooking, though it was delicious, it mainly consisted of rice and a few pieces of meat and vegetables. This time around, she prepared lobster, salmon, and some delicious looking meat that looked to be pork. While there was still rice, Naruto was looking at a small feast. A far cry from what felt like a few short months ago.

"Woah." Was the only verbal reaction he could muster.

"This stuff looks expensive, is it really okay if I eat some of this?" Slightly worried that he was being a burden.

Tazuna patted the boy on the shoulder and gave him a genuine smile. "Kid, without you, we would have never been able to eat like this! Of course, you can have all you want."

Naruto blinked. He looked over at Tsunami, who was now sitting down with the rest of them, and Inari. They both were also smiling genuinely at him. "What do you mean?" He asked dumbly. "What do I have to do with anything?"

"Because of that bridge, things have changed a lot in this land. Now that people can easily come and go, trading has been prosperous. We have more money than ever before, and because of that my services are highly requested. People can afford to remodel their homes; new tenants want houses built from the ground up. The land has life once again, and it's all thanks to you."

The blond scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Thanks, but I didn't really do all that much. Honest!"

"You did a lot." Inari said seriously. The glint in his eyes struck a cord in the genin. They meant every word they were saying to him.

Naruto felt similar emotions to when he left the Land of Waves the first time welling up inside him. Like he almost wanted to cry. Though he hadn't spent a lot of time in Wave, he truly felt like a welcomed part of the family when he was there. Not growing up with that, it was really nice to have. Even only if it was for a little.

"Eat." Tsunami gently urged.

Naruto nodded, a smile plastered across his face. "Thanks for the food!" He yelled appreciatively as he began to dig in. After the first bite, his eyes lit up.

"This is delicious!"

...

Jiraiya was pacing back and forth for what had felt like hours. That was probably because he has actually been pacing for hours. He stopped and looked up into the sky. It was the following morning from when he had said goodbye to Naruto and the sun had just risen about an hour ago. The air was fresh and crisp, cool dew covered the grass at his feet. If he was not currently in a state of mild panic, he might actually be able to enjoy his surroundings.

He was currently standing outside the gates to the Hot Water Village. After separating from the blond and pack of ANBU, he set off for the Land of Hot Water at a fairly modest pace. It took him about 12 hours to arrive at the rendezvous point. Not too shabby in his opinion.

The part that concerned the white-haired sage was that his contact was nowhere to be found. Naki is a man that the Sannin has known for a number of years. As his source of intel for the Land of Hot Water, they had previously met many times and the man has never been late once. If anything, he usually arrived early even before the man he reported to.

Jiraiya saw him as dependable and professional. Not exactly the kind of person he'd want to hang out with or buy drinks at the bar with, but the perfect kind of person to have a professional relationship with. In short, Naki was someone who wouldn't be late without an important reason.

A pit was beginning to form at the bottom of the Sannin's stomach. He had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, he just had no idea what.

...

Though unaware of his fate, Jiraiya had good reason to worry about his contact. It was a gruesome scene to behold. The front door had been viciously broken down. He lay collapsed on the floor in the living area of his own home. He had several cuts and bruises adorning his face. The room was trashed, obvious signs of a struggle. Blood was splattered all along the walls. His body was cold, lifeless. And worst of all…

It appears his heart had been ripped straight out of his chest…

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUNNNNN.**

 **AN: Like I had been saying, things are changing! And they are going to continue to change. This really was a joy to write. I threw in a few nuggets of information in this chapter that are important for upcoming chapters. Some are obvious, some aren't as much. Let me know what you've noticed! Give me your thoughts on this chapter and your predictions for the next chapter. Your answers are of great interest to me. Do you like where the story is going? Do you hate it? Let me know!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. Cruel Reality

**Author's Note: So, I feel like the obligatory apology is in order. There are multiple reasons why I haven't uploaded in so long. The first reason being that Spring semester of college was much busier than I had anticipated. Before it began I had the intention of writing in my free time, but with that being few and far between the fanfic got put on the backburner unfortunately. Then after school was over for the year, I hadnt written in so long the task itself seemed daunting. I had always know what chapter 8 was going to be about, it just took a while for me to put pen to paper if that makes any sense.** **I will continue to write this fic, but I feel if I tried to promise a consistent upload schedule that would be disingenuous.**

 **I will however update on my profile any progress I make on upcoming chapters for any that are interested in that.**

 **Anyway if you read that whole thing I am very grateful, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Leave a review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Cruel Reality

Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari watched with mild amusement as their favorite rambunctious blond scarfed down the breakfast that was placed down in front of him. None of it was a match for an intensely hungry, growing boy.

Tsunami let out a small giggle at her guest's actions. "You know the food isn't going anywhere, Naruto. You don't have to eat so quickly." Her motherly instincts were beginning to kick in once again. After all, the last time she saw Naruto eat that intensely he threw up.

Now finished, Naruto put down his chopsticks and put his hands behind his head with his trademark sheepish smile plastered across his face. "Sorry, it's just that the food was so good I couldn't help myself."

Tsunami smiled brightly from the compliment about her cooking. "I'm glad you enjoyed it so much." She replied sweetly.

"Naruto!" Inari chimed in energetically. "What are you going to do today? Are you planning on doing some super awesome training?"

"I'm sure he is!" Tazuna added in. "Someone who's dream is to be Hokage is probably always training, right kid?" The tone of his voice was genuine. He sounded like he supported the boy in his grandiose goal of being the Fire Shadow.

"You bet." The genin confirmed as he adjusted his headband. "I'll probably look around town to see how much it's changed first, then go train. While I love hanging out with you guys, I promised my mentor that I would continue to train while he was gone." To which Tsunami and Tazuna nodded in understanding. "I can't start slacking now, can I?"

"Of course not." Tazuna said while slapping the boy on the back affectionately. "We can't have the hero of the waves getting rusty."

Naruto laughed nervously. "Thanks, but I'm no hero, old man Tazuna." Having people refer to him in such high regard made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't know why.

In reality, his childhood was the source of why he did not take well to high praise. Years of being told he was a monster and that he wasn't worth anything really damaged his self-worth and confidence. After all the berating and insults, he had begun to subconsciously accept all of that verbal abuse as fact. Deep down he really believed those awful things and someone telling him otherwise conflicted with the perception of himself that he has had for all of these years. The outward persona of strength and confidence he exudes is sometimes nothing more than an elaborate front that he puts on for the people around him. A Hokage needs those qualities, so he needs to show everyone that he has them.

Tazuna just smiled. "Walk around town. You'll see what I mean."

Naruto just nodded dumbly; not really fully understanding but also not sure of what else he could say. While the praise made him uncomfortable, it also felt good to know that he was liked and appreciated, even if he felt he didn't truly deserve it.

"Can I come train with you, Naruto?!" Inari piped in enthusiastically. "That would be so cool!" He wanted to train with his hero, it was as simple as that.

Naruto was about to respond but he was cut off.

"Inari." His mother began. "I know that you want to, but that stuff is too dangerous for you. You could get hurt." Her tone was firm, but not harsh. "Naruto is a strong ninja, regular people like us shouldn't get involved in stuff like that."

The child groaned in response. "But mom!" He complained. "If Naruto is there I won't get hurt. Please! Just this once?"

His pleading fell on deaf ears. "I'm sorry, but no." His mother shot down the last of his hopes.

Inari turned his puppy dog gaze to his grandfather, but after the harsh look Tazuna received from his daughter he averted the boy's gaze and awkwardly sipped his morning tea. He wasn't about to stick his neck out and get involved in this mother-son dispute. He had his good health to think about.

Before the young boy could have a chance to be angry or sad, Naruto rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Inari. I'm sure one day we can train together. Besides, if you were gone who would be here to protect your mom?" He said with a smile.

Inari's face lit back up and he nodded in understanding. "You're right!" He said with a toothy grin.

"Hey, it's my day off I'll be here too. What am I, chopped liver?" The older man said with his arms crossed at his chest.

The other three laughed at the expense of the old bridge builder and he just huffed in feigned annoyance.

After the laughter died down Tsunami walked over to Naruto and handed him a bento box. This caused the leaf shinobi to blink in confusion.

"I packed you lunch for when you get hungry, just make sure you're back for dinner, mister." She said affectionately.

Naruto, touched by her kindness, nodded profusely in agreement as he headed for the door. "I'll be back later guys!" He said with a big smile as he closed the front door behind him.

The first thing he noticed about the town was the stark difference in foot traffic to the last time he was here. Before it had almost felt akin to a ghost town. Now, dozens upon dozens of people were walking around swiftly. Having come later in the evening the previous day he hadn't been aware of just how much the bridge had changed the quality of life for the people of the small nation. He noticed new houses where there used to be run-down shacks, new businesses where there used to be vacant, unused space. He smiled brightly, happy of what he and his team were able to do.

One business, in particular, caught his eye, a small bookstore. More importantly, an advertisement sign located next to the entrance of the bookstore and the large line that appeared to be going out the door.

"Get a copy of the hero of the waves new novel 'The Weight of the World' out now!"

He read it Once. Twice. Even a third time. The surreal feeling that washed over him was something he could not explain. In all the excitement about being around old friends, he had forgotten that his book was supposed to be released to the public soon. And the people from this small nation appeared to be anxiously waiting to get a copy of his work.

He felt tears forming at his eyes, but he refused to cry. This is what Tazuna must have been talking about. A happy looking customer walked out of the store with his book in hand. The cover of the book was bright orange and the spiral he wore on the back of his jumpsuit adorned the cover.

'Yep.' He thought to himself. 'I knew that that would look awesome.'

The smile he had on his face was comically big as he gave the bookstore one last look and then continued down the street.

…

He finally made it to the spot. He decided to train in a location in the forest that was very familiar to him. He placed his hands on the trunk of the tree, fingers running over the deep cuts that peppered the side of the tree. Possibly one of his most cherished memories of his Team 7 days were him and Sasuke competing to see who could get to the top of the tree first. It was one of the first times where they really connected and, quite possibly, the first time the blond thought that they could become friends.

"A lot has changed." He whispered to himself. "I wonder if you still think of me as your friend, Sasuke."

He shook his head to clear his mind. Getting sentimental would do him no good when it was training time. That would only slow him down, all of his focus needed to be on improving."

No longer filled with nostalgia, determination and intensity now in its place. "All right! Let's go!"

* * *

"We've been walking for too long. You know? Can we stop for a couple minutes? I need to take a piss!"

Two figures had been walking down a path in the forest in silence for a long time until one of them finally spoke up.

The other simply grunted in annoyance. He had finally gotten his partner to shut up a little while ago, but that, unfortunately, didn't seem to last long. How he hated being around other people. Their presence always interrupting what he enjoyed doing most; being able to be alone with his thoughts. Actually, after thinking about it, there was something he enjoyed doing even more than that.

Making money.

"Didn't I say if you opened your mouth again that I would kill you, Hidan?" His gruff voice combined with his harsh and violent words made him come off as a very aggressive and intimidating man.

The one named Hidan didn't even flinch. "C' mon, Kakuzu." He said with lazy, half-closed eyes. "I know we haven't been partners for very long, but you know as well as I do that you can't do that. So, stop with the empty threats!"

Kakuzu decided not to further engage in banter with his partner. It would only annoy him further. "If you have business to take care of then get it over with. But I'm not stopping so you'll have to catch up."

That response elicited a sneer from his partner. He ran a hand through his slicked-back grayish-white hair and let out a deep breath. "Fine." He responded with annoyance in his voice. "Just know this, Kakuzu. I'll get you to like me one of these days." He finished as he walked off the path in the direction of a tall tree so he could relieve himself.

Despite what he had said, the taller man stopped just ahead and waited for his partner to finish before they continued to their destination.

Hidan smirked slightly as he zipped his pants back up. "I thought you were gonna leave me behind. You're not such a bad guy, after all, Kakuzu."

"Shut up, or I'll kill you."

"Okay, okay. No need to get embarrassed." He teased further.

"Focus on the task at hand. If you don't take this seriously, we won't succeed." The clear-cut more serious of the two warned. "This is important. Don't screw it up."

"You're not talking about that bounty, are you." The shorter man said with a bit of irritation in his voice. "If there's one thing I don't like about you, it's your obsession with money. Money is one of the roots of all evil in this world."

"Hmph. Says the one who's virtues include slaughtering as many people as you can get your hands on." Not that Kakuzu had a problem with killing. He just didn't want to hear preaching's about what he should do from a mass murderer.

"Tch. Heathen." There was no point in arguing with someone who doesn't understand the way of Jashin.

"You should know that this isn't just about some bounty. We have more than one target, or were you not listening when I told you?"

"No, I was listening. I just don't see why we have to dirty our hands for something as superficial as money."

"We need money." Was his partner's simple reply.

"Words of the greedy." The usually aloof partner shot back with a bit of venom.

"Then greed runs the world." He replied with finality. Hidan crossed his arms around his chest, signaling he too was done talking to his partner.

The two of them were now sick of one another's presence and the silence Kakuzu craved returned. They continued along the path that led to their destination.

…

The quietness and solidarity that the forest provided were soon replaced by the loud voices of people. The two cloaked figures walked through the crowds of people as if they weren't even there. Their eyes transfixed straight ahead of them. While they got some odd looks for their strange clothes they were wearing, they went mostly ignored by the busy people who were either working or purchasing things in the marketplace.

After what seemed like forever, they suddenly stopped in front of a house. Hidan blinked, but he didn't say anything. He lazily glanced over at his partner.

"Seems like this is the place." Was all his partner said, which made Hidan squint in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" He asked dumbly. "Was there an address or something?"

"No." Was all he got in response.

As quick as it would take to blink, Hidan felt the air around him shift. There was something cold and sharp pressed against his neck almost hard enough to draw blood. He allowed himself a small smirk.

Behind them were two masked figures, each holding a kunai to the necks of the red and black-cloaked duo. However, despite being in an advantageous position, the trained eye could discern the slight quiver in the hands of the aggressors.

"They told me." Kakuzu finished, seemingly aware of their presence long before they arrived behind him.

* * *

"You know, Uddo." The blond genin began slowly. "You don't have to stand down here with me. You can go hide in the trees with the other ANBU." Naruto was just saying that because the ANBU member adorning the cat mask was making him uncomfortable.

"I am simply following the orders of the Hokage, Uzumaki-san." Was his response.

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly. 'Why did Granny tell this guy to watch over me like this?' He thought to himself. It seemed strange. What made it stranger was that this ANBU's chakra felt much different from the other Konoha elite. Normally the blond can't feel chakra radiating off of someone unless they are battling, but he can sense Uddo's. 'He's not normal.'

"You can just call me Naruto." He decided to keep all of his questions to himself. Not like he would get an actual answer from an ANBU member, anyway.

Uddo simply nodded his understanding.

The blond turned back to his training. He put his hand out and began to violently rotate the chakra in his palm. Jiraiya had made him question whether or not he was a true shinobi when he told him that he relied on shadow clones too much. Because of this, the boy has made it his goal to try and turn his shadow clones into a powerful weapon instead of just a crutch he has to use in battle. Improvements in his taijutsu have gone well so far, now he needs to start working on something else.

Making a Rasengan with just one hand and no assistance from clones.

'Focus.' He thought to himself calmly. He pushed everything out of his mind and placed all of his attention onto his palm. The ball of spinning chakra began condensing down, rotating even more swiftly. The strain on his face was apparent. 'I can do it!'

'Boom!'

Unable to fully contain all of dense, spinning chakra his Rasengan suddenly exploded. The blast launched him into a nearby tree. He slid down to the ground and let out a groan of pain.

Before he could even blink, 6 ANBU landed right in front of him.

"I'm fine, guys." He grunted out as he picked himself up. He blinked, realizing something. "Hey, I thought there were 8 of you." He began counting all of the ANBU he could see on his fingers. "6. Where are the other 2?" He questioned.

"They are currently stationed at the residence you are staying at." The Lion themed ANBU answered.

"Why?" The blond asked dumbly.

"If we were all to follow you everywhere you went, if an enemy knew where you were staying, he could simply sneak onto the premises without our knowledge and launch a surprise attack when we returned."

"Ohhhh." Naruto nodded his understanding. "That makes sense. You guys sure are smart."

To which all 6 masked ninjas simply nodded.

"I just don't see why you need to be so cautious. I doubt anything is going to happ-"

'BOOM!'

The genin swung his head in the direction of the blast. His face paled at what he saw. In the distance, a large, black cloud of smoke hung over in the direction that the village was located. He didn't think, his legs just began to carry him in the direction. Taking off full speed towards the village before the ANBU could hold him back.

"Naruto-san!" Uddo yelled urgently as all 6 ANBU members dashed off in pursuit of the Leaf Village's greatest asset. "You can't go over there! The Hokage said-"

"I don't what Granny Tsunade said!" He screamed behind him as he kept running. "My friends are over there!"

Despite his vast increase in speed, the ANBU that were chasing him were still probably faster than him. That he knew. He had to be able to slow them down somehow, so they didn't stop him from going.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He summoned 30 clones, each of which immediately turned back to engage the pursuers. The Black Ops team, shocked that their assignment would resort to such a thing, had no choice but to engage the horde of clones.

Hearing a couple clones being dispelled Naruto gritted his teeth and increased his speed further. 'That should hold them off long enough for me to get there. They won't be far behind, so they should be able to join me for a fight too.'

'If there is a fight, at all?'

His mind was racing. What could have happened? 'Maybe just a gas leak.' He tried to reassure himself.

No.

Whatever this was, it gave the blond a pit in his stomach. Something very bad had just happened, he knew it. Going there was going to be incredibly dangerous. Everything was screaming at him to tell him to stop, but he couldn't. He wouldn't.

He was getting closer. His heart rate increasing with every passing second. After the initial explosion, he hadn't heard anything afterward. However, as he grew closer, he began to hear something else. Initially, it was too faint to completely make out what the sound was, but now it was unmistakable.

It was screaming.

Having finally reached the town he swiftly scaled the rooftops and leaped from building to building. Now that he was in the town he could tell more accurately where the cloud of black smoke had come from. His heart sank.

'No…'

He saw it. Tazuna's house, the one he stayed at during his first real mission outside of the village, the house who belonged to some of the first people who treated him like a member of the family, had the front side of it blown off. Pieces of debris littered the area and several of the houses around it had been set on fire.

He landed, having been so focused on the house he hadn't notice the two figures standing outside of it. His eyes narrowed and a wave of anger he hadn't felt in a very long time welled up inside him. He immediately recognized those cloaks.

Akatsuki.

The Akatsuki duo turned around, eyeing the new arrival with curiosity.

"Like a moth to a flame." The masked one said with a voice that gave the blond chills up and down his spine.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. The one who spoke was cradling something in his arms. He stumbled back a few steps and fell down. This couldn't be happening. He had to be imagining this. This was a horrible, unspeakable dream, right? It had to be.

Kakuzu was holding Tazuna's severed head.

The bounty hunter glanced down at his prize and smirked beneath his mask. "Did you know him?" He asked already knowing the answer. "When we came down here to get you, I wasn't expecting my two prizes to be in the same place. A bounty and a Jinchuriki."

"That Zetsu has his eyes everywhere, doesn't he?" Hidan said with a little annoyance in his voice. "What if he saw me peeing?!"

Naruto didn't hear anything that either of them said. It felt as though the air was forcibly pushed out of his lungs. He was suffocating, yet he couldn't draw in any air. He tried with all of his might to refocus his gaze. The other two. Where were the other two? Could he still save them? Were they still alive? Please let them be still alive!

The shorter of the S-Ranked duo seemed to pick up on the blonds thoughts.

"Did you know the other two as well?" His voice. He sounded like he was enjoying all of this.

Naruto heard him, but his mouth wasn't responding to what his brain was telling him. Not out of fear, but despair. He didn't want to hear what the man was going to say next.

"We were going to leave them alone; they weren't our targets." Hidan began with a shrug. "But that kid. He charged at us spewing some nonsense about being a hero and trying to protect his family!" He chuckled, but then his eyes hardened. "If the brat hadn't stabbed me, he and his mother would still be alive."

* * *

Inside the Jinchuriki, the Nine-Tailed Fox was lying down in his cage. With one eye open, he was watching everything that was transpiring outside. He had been mildly interested in what was happening, even contemplating giving the runt a piece of his chakra. However, after hearing the man with grey hair talk, he shut his eye closed; now seemingly uninterested in the whole situation.

* * *

Naruto just sat there. He expected a boiling rage to overtake him, but nothing had come. The tears that were once streaming down his face had stopped. The searing hot pain in his chest had disappeared. His body was numb. He didn't feel anything. All of his will had been stripped away from him. He just sat on the ground, seemingly resigning himself to his hunters.

'If I were to die, would this feeling go away?' He thought to himself.

After having to already overcome so much pain, sadness and terror in his life the boy may have finally had enough. He was tired.

The two Akatsuki, initially expecting a fight, seemed to have understood and began making their way to their target. Just when they were a few feet away several figures dropped in and surrounded them.

They each quickly went through a series of hand seals.

"Earth Style: Mobile Core!"

The earth around the two Akatsuki members rumbled and then dropped them deep down underground. They looked up towards the surface, seemingly uninterested in whatever even happens. They didn't even try to evade.

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

"Lightning Style: Shock Wave!"

An explosion rocked the once peaceful town as the Jutsu made contact with their target. Using that as his signal, one of the remaining two ANBU that didn't engage the criminals swiftly leaped into action. Uddo picked up Naruto and took off in the direction of the bridge, followed closely behind by his remaining comrade.

Ignoring the sounds of battle, their only mission was to ensure the safety of the Jinchuriki. Even with 6 members of the Leaf's most elite force of ninja, it was very probable that they didn't stand a chance against this foe. The most tactical option would be to retreat and get to safety.

"How long do you think they can hold them off?" Lion asked Uddo.

"If they are just as strong as someone like Itachi, I would say not long. Hopefully, I'm wrong." He answered, glancing at the lifeless boy in his arms. His eyes were open, but they were dead and glazed over as if they weren't focused on anything.

After crossing the bridge that carried the namesake of the boy they were protecting, they immediately began to head North.

"This all seems too much of a coincidence." Lion said as he looked behind them to ensure they were still not being followed.

"I agree. I believe their distraction in the Land of Hot Water was just a ruse to get the boy separated from Master Jiraiya." He concluded. "Once they knew they wouldn't have to battle a Sannin, they jumped at the chance to take him."

"How could they know where we were going to be?" Lion asked in exasperation, emotion normally unbecoming of ANBU.

"Let's just say a little birdy told us."

Their eyes widened behind their mask as a voice came from above them. They darted in opposite directions as the Akatsuki that held the long red scythe on his back slashed down at them with it.

"Don't be a fool, Hidan." Kakuzu berated his partner while still holding his bounty trophy. "They're holding the boy. We need him alive."

"Oh, c' mon, Kakuzu." Hidan retorted with a sadistic smile. "If they couldn't dodge that then they deserved to die."

"It doesn't appear that we're going to be able to get away," Cat said as he placed the boy on the ground and got into a defensive stance.

"It appears that way." Lion added.

"Give us the kid and we'll make sure your deaths are quick and painless." Hidan threatened. "We don't want this to get messy. I've gotten enough of other peoples blood on my clothes as it is."

Cat ran through a series of hand signs.

"Wood Style: Domed Wall Jutsu!"

A dome of wood shot out of the ground and covered the unmoving blond. 'Hopefully, that protects him from any attacks.' The wood-style user thought to himself.

"Hm?" Kakuzu wondered aloud. "From what I've heard Wood Style has been extinct since the death of the First Hokage. Who are you?"

Cat said nothing as his right arm slowly formed into what appeared to be a wooden mallet. He launched himself at the two Akatsuki.

"Guess time for talking is over, then?" Kakuzu said humorlessly.

"He's mine, Kakuzu!" Hidan yelled as he swung his long scythe at the attacker. The attack hit its mark…

'Poof' Only for him to turn into a log.

"Fire Style: Dancing Flames Jutsu!"

Both partners looked up only to see a wide stream of fire coming down on their heads. Lion had used the distraction to launch a Jutsu from above.

"Water Style: Water Wall!" The water rose up and met the fire, creating a large amount of steam that hampered everyone's visibility. Kakuzu leaped up onto a tree branch while his partner just stood there. Waiting.

As if on cue Lion busted through the fog with a kunai in hand.

"Wood Style: Bind!"

Before Hidan could even react to the oncoming assault, Uddo bound up his torso and legs with branch-like strands that shot out of his arms. "You're mine!" Lion yelled as he plunged the sharp blade into the chest of the shorter Akatsuki.

Despite blood running down the grey-haired man's face, his facial expression didn't change. Except for when it twisted into a cruel smirk. He grabbed both of the hands of his assailant and pulled him close to him. "I hope you're ready for this because I know I am." Twisted smirk adorning his face.

"Fire Style: Searing Migraine," Kakuzu said calmly after running through a series of hand seals. He pulled his mask down below his lips and an enormous stream of fire spewed out of his mouth.

Aimed right at his partner.

"Oh no!" Uddo yelled as he ran through seals of his own.

"Wood Style: Domed Wall!"

He covered himself in his own protective dome of wood. The blast touched down and singed the outside of the wood wall, but did not break through. Unfortunately for his comrade, he was not so lucky. His horrible screams made the wood-style user grimace darkly. He had to pull himself together. He was the only one left.

'He aimed an attack right at his partner, why?' He didn't understand. 'Was it because he was going to die anyway from the wound in his chest?'

The dome receded and he readied the Tanto that had previously been strapped to his back. The red scythe slashed its way through the smoke that the fire had left. Behind it was the crazed face of the man he was sure had been killed. Uddo was just able to parry the strike as he retreated desperately.

'What the hell is going on here?' He thought in shock. 'How is he still alive?!'

Hidan pressed forward while slashing causing the ANBU to continue backing up. Desperately forming his hand into a mallet, he wildly swatted the scythe out of the madman's hands.

Hidan, mildly surprised, stumbled forward walking right into the Tanto which pierced through his chest. Uddo twisted the blade in his chest in an attempt to ensure the kill.

"Don't resist." The ANBU warned. "Tell your friend to back off, or I'll finish you." Instead of looking fearful, the mortally wounded man began to laugh. Cackle, even. Uddo was at a loss. Even though the man had a blade through his chest, he could still laugh? "What's so funny?" He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the answer. His eyes were crazed. Uddo felt as though he could see the devil himself inside of them.

Hidan, just like before, grabbed both of his assailant's arms and pulled him close. "You're supposed to be an elite ninja from the Hidden Leaf? Pathetic! You fell for the same trick again!"

Eyes wide, the ANBU looked up into the trees. The man that completed the Akatsuki duo was already running through hand seals.

Mind racing, the leaf shinobi tried to think of something to get him out of this predicament. His situation was grim, there was little he could do with his arms tied up. As a last resort he reared back and used that momentum to throw a devastating headbutt at his opponent... only for him to meet it with equal force.

"It's over."

His ANBU mask shattered from the impact revealing his terrified face. There was nothing else he could do now. He resigned himself, closing his eyes and bracing for impact.

...

Only it never came. He opened his eyes and noticed that Hidan had a similar face of confusion.

"So you guys thought you could steal my student right from under my nose, did you?" A different voice came from above.

Both men on the forest floor looked up at the sound of the voice and their reactions were vastly different.

"Master Jiraiya!"

The Sannin was gripping Kakuzu's hand to keep him from executing the jutsu. Although the enemy's faced was covered by a mask, you could tell that he wasn't expecting the Toad Sage to show up.

"You guys made a big mistake." The Sage's eyes were hard and unforgiving. The normally laid-back ninja was boiling over with rage. "You made me angry."

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 **7/20/19 - There's currently a poll active on my profile. It would mean a lot if you answered it honestly! Thanks!**

 **Author's Note: Yeah... I'm sure there's going to be a lot to unpack here. While I hope this chapter has a mostly positive reception, I will understand if it makes some people angry. Just know that I always intended for this chapter to go this way.**

 **Being that it is the most controversial chapter so far I hope that I get a lot of reviews telling me what you all think. I am insanely interested.**

 **I've always liked Naruto's friends in the Land of Waves, but after the opening arc in the series you pretty much never hear from them again. To be fair, civilians with no abilities aren't going to be very useful in a story about Ninjas so I understand why we didn't see much of them. From this chapter alone their characters will impact this story much more than they did in canon.**

 **If anyone was able to figure out Uddo was, in fact, Yamato/Tenzo let me know! Uddo is Japanese for wood, so I guess you could say it was an Easter egg. Applaud me for my genius!**

 **If people have questions of concerns in the comments I will start to try and answer them (with the persons respective username attached) at the end of each chapter starting now.**

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 **Flying Raijin** : I understand your concerns, the training is not going to be one-dimensional like that. I don't plan to stop an aspect of training and move onto a different one each time. The new training sessions will simply be added into the rotation with a little more emphasis on the newer things. That way he doesn't become rusty from stopping something completely. As for the Fuinjutsu, we've seen it used for other things such as barrier seals and contract seals. Neither of which actually seals anything anyway. If you want to get technical I could argue that it seals away physical matter that is then condensed and increases the weight of whatever it is put on. So while gravity seal may not technically be the correct term, the affect is essentially the same. I understand it is a fanfic trope, but it is nonetheless a useful tool to use. That's why many people turn to it as such.

 **ThatOneRandomDude** : I expected some people would be bored by the pacing, but this is ultimately a story that starts at the beginning of the training time skip. Except I never planned on skipping the time skip so a lot of time will be spent there watching Naruto's development. So there's a lot of development and departure from canon that needs to happen before any action starts. I understand if that turns people off, but I want to organically let the story flow instead of pushing the pace too fast in an attempt to keep people from don't get bored. With this chapter I hope people feel slightly different, but I won't know until after it's posted.

 **If anyone else has an questions/concerns let me know and I'll do my best to address them. Thanks again!**


	9. Omake: Life in the Leaf

**PART 1 OF 2**

 **IMPORTANT: There is a poll available on my profile in regards to the previous chapter. Please vote and let me know what you're thinking!**

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 **Author's Note: This was supposed to be a quick little extra chapter, at most 2000 words. Sometimes I start writing and don't stop.**

 **I have actually gotten multiple requests about what was happening in the Village in regards to Naruto's novel. So, by popular demand, here you go.**

 **Leave a review of what you think of the story up until this point. If you do, I guarantee Chapter 9 will be out in less than 2 weeks! Your reviews mean a lot and actually motivate me to keep writing. Thank you for all of the positive feedback so far! Enjoy! **

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Omake 1: Life in the Leaf

The memorial stone looked nearly the same every time he saw it. His one visible eye glossed over most of the names on it, usually only really focusing on three names in particular. The names of his two teammates from his Genin squad, Obito and Rin, and his sensei Minato. His eye shut and curved upward, signaling that he was smiling beneath his mask. Remembering the good times he had with his team helped him numb the pain he felt from losing them. Some days were harder than others, but he managed as best as he could.

He opened his eye back up and continued skimming through the names. Considering he was there practically every day he was in the village; he knew most of the names on the stone even if he didn't know all of the ninjas personally. 'There's a new name on here.' He thought to himself somberly. He recognized the name, too. A young Chunin no older than 17 had recently died on a low-tier B-Rank mission. Apparently, some bandits who had access to jutsu got the jump on him and the convoy he was escorting. There were reportedly no survivors and the culprits were still at large.

He closed his eye and stood still, giving the fallen soldier his due respect in a moment of silence. While it was sad that someone so young had lost their life, he had done it while representing his village. There was honor in that.

'When do they have the time to carve the names into this. I'm here all the time and I never see anyone else ever around.' He wondered, trying to take his mind off of the sad thoughts that come along with visiting the memorial.

He looked up at the sky. It was early afternoon and the sun was shining brightly. Hardly a day to stand gloomily at a stone all day, but he had to come and pay his respects to his friends. What kind of person would he be if he didn't? It was his day off, so he was able to come early and had stayed there for several hours. Normally, he would stay even longer, but something was telling him to walk around the village a little bit today. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. A nice change of scenery would bring his spirits up a little.

With one final look at the tribute to the fallen, he turned around and pulled a book out of his hip pouch. The book seemed to be quite worn down. Nothing like reading Icha-Icha Innocence for what had to be the 50th time. The pure love depicted in it captures his attention every time he reads it. However, as much as he loved the first three books, he was anxiously awaiting the fourth installment in Jiraiya's masterpiece of a series. He hoped that it would be out in stores before his student and the author returned from their training expedition. Periodically, he would stop by the local bookstore and ask if they had heard anything about a new Icha-Icha novel. Each time he was met with disappointment. As improbable as a nearby release was, he had to cover all of his bases.

'I haven't been there in a while, couldn't hurt to pop in and ask.' He thought to himself, giddy about the potential good news.

As he was making his way through town his mind drifted to his blond student. Naruto crossed Kakashi's mind every day. While he was supremely confident in the abilities of Jiraiya to protect the boy from any danger, he still sometimes worried that something bad might happen. Every time he got called into an audience with the Hokage he tensed up, hoping that he wasn't going to hear some bad news. It never was, but that didn't keep him from worrying the next time.

'I wonder what you have been up to, Naruto.' He mused as he rounded the last street corner. He glanced up from his book and had to do a double-take. There was a line going out of the store. The only time he had ever seen that was when a new Icha-Icha book came out. How the Leaf Village adults loved the Sannin's work. His pace quickened, excitement visible in his exposed eye. Would today of all days be the one where he gets his hands on it? That feeling was soon dashed and replaced with confusion. He had been expecting the line to be filled with men his age and older. People who could… appreciate the contents of one of Jiraiya's books. But this line had children in it. More importantly, children that he knew.

"Sakura." He began as he walked up halfway up the side of the line. The aforementioned pink-hair kunoichi turned around upon hearing her name, along with Hinata, Neji, and Rock Lee. "What are you guys doing here?" The Copy Ninja asked as he leaned in close to them. "This book isn't something you should be reading." His voice now a whisper.

Kakashi's student cocked her head to the side in apparent confusion. "What are you talking about, Sensei?" The other Genin shared a similar look. Except for Neji. Neji looked the same as he always did, uninterested in everything going on around him. "Why shouldn't I be allowed to read Naruto's book?"

"Huh?" Was the only response the usually cool and collected Jonin could muster. Upon hearing his perplexed response, Sakura pointed to a sign placed next to the door of the bookstore that Kakashi had missed. Sure enough, it was an advertisement for his knucklehead of student's new novel 'The Weight of the World.'

"Naruto, our Naruto… wrote… a book?" The Sharingan user sputtered out, still in a state of disbelief.

"That's what I said!" Sakura agreed. "But Hinata told me that he had a book coming out! Don't you have to get something like that published? How do you think he managed something like that?" The kunoichi was going a mile a minute. She had thought she calmed down about the situation after Hinata told her, but seeing Kakashi caused her to start back up again. The Naruto she knew could barely write a coherent sentence, yet now he was coming out with a professionally published work? It didn't make any sense, but nonetheless, she had to read it. Not only to support her good friend but also because she was overwhelmingly curious about the contents of the book. Is it good? Bad? What is it about? She had to get the answers to all of these important questions.

"I have no earthly idea." The masked Jonin said while he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. He turned to the quiet Hyuga. "How did you hear about this?" He asked with genuine curiosity. Any information he can glean about the situation would help him process what was going on.

The shy girl, seemingly unprepared for any questions to be directed at her, blushed and began to twiddle her fingers uncomfortably.

"I-I overheard some people mention s-something about it." She said slowly. The chat had been between a man who worked at the bookstore and a friend of his. In passing, he mentioned the author's name being Uzumaki. The second anything Naruto related is said aloud, the little Hyuga's sense goes into overdrive. She then rushed to confirm the validity of what her ears had picked up. After seeing that it was actually true, she was filled with many indescribable emotions and there was only one thing on her mind at that point.

She had to get her hands on a copy of that book.

"Yeah." Sakura jumped in, saving her friend from any further embarrassment. "Hinata told as many people as she could. Team 10 is out on a mission, so they'll find out when they get back. Shino and Kiba had some sort of clan thing that they had to attend. And Tenten is working in her family's weapons shop, so-."

"SO I WILL BRING HER A COPY, AS REQUESTED!" The green-clad genin who had surprisingly remained silent this entire time boomed. "Tenten couldn't miss the chance to revel in Naruto's youthful story-telling!" His eyes were set ablaze with a passion that Kakashi only saw elsewhere when he was hanging around Might Gai.

He sweat dropped but acknowledged the Taijutsu specialists 'youth' with a swift nod. If he was anything like Gai if he enabled Lee with anything more than that he would just keep talking about the 'prime of people's youth.'

"And you, Neji?" Kakashi turned to the only one of the four teenagers who remained silent. "This doesn't seem like anything you'd be interested in." The Hyuga prodigy had an interesting relationship with the person that defeated him in the Chunin exams. That's why the Copy Ninja was curious about Neji's reasoning for being there.

The pale-eyed Hyuga grimaced slightly. He had hoped he could get away from this conversation without saying anything. "If you must know, I am interested in what Naruto has to say."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi continued to prod.

"The name of the book. It piqued my interest." He said simply with a hint of finality. That was all he was going to say about the situation.

Kakashi smiled with his eye. "I agree." He concluded as he snapped his still open book closed with a soft 'thwack.' "I think I'll wait in line with you guys and get a copy for myself."

Before any of the Genin could say anything, someone began yelling.

"Hey, jerk!" A man towards the back of the line said. "If you plan on waiting in line, you better get to the back!" He warned. "No cutting!"

Kakashi, somewhat surprised at the outburst, smiled weakly and waved a hand out in front of himself in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "Sorry about that." He used his other hand to sheepishly scratch the back of his neck. He turned back to the students. "Guess I'll be right behind you guys. See ya." He concluded as he began to walk towards the back of the line. He sighed. The line was now quite a bit longer than when he had initially arrived.

'Since I'll be here a while…' He mused as he once again took out his precious Icha-Icha Innocence.

Having already read the book so many times, sometimes, although he would appear to be reading it, he was actually instead acutely aware of everything going on around. Sometimes he just liked to use the book as a tool to make himself unassuming, which gave him free rein to survey his surroundings. He was surprised by how many people were at this book release. While, yes, the Leaf Village did not have an as negative perception of the young author as they used to, there were still many within it that still viewed him as an unstable and dangerous monster. And by many, he meant most.

It has been the blond's actions that have been very slowly gaining the attention of some of the townspeople. From his mission in the Land of Waves to his heroic efforts during the Chunin exams, and lastly his role in bringing the Fifth Hokage to the village in its time of need; all of these things seemed to have convinced a couple of people of just who Naruto is. While he still has an arduous journey for the acceptance of the entire village, he is making small and important strides in that direction. And they, just like all of the boy's friends and loved ones, are curious to see what his novel is all about.

'If only you could see this for yourself, Naruto. I guess I should be more surprised than I am that you actually wrote a book. But I stopped counting you out a long time ago.'

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"That'll be 215 Ryo." The polite shopkeeper said.

Kakashi reached into his wallet and handed the man the necessary money.

Accepting the money, he handed the Jonin a bag with the book his student authored. "Enjoy. Have a nice day."

Kakashi nodded and walked outside. 'Not exactly the book I was hoping to buy today, but this is definitely a pleasantly interesting surprise.' He thought to himself as he reached into the bag. Upon seeing the book he sweat dropped.

"Really, Naruto? Bright Orange?" He said aloud humorlessly. "At least it'll be an attention grabber."

"About time, Sensei."

The Copy Ninja looked up from his musing. The little Genin had been waiting for him. Except… "Where did Hinata go?"

"Hinata-sama seemed to be in a hurry after buying the book. As if she had to go somewhere important." Neji answered, slightly confused himself as to where the Heiress rushed off to with such urgency."

"She's probably dying to read Naruto's book." Sakura said knowingly. It was beyond obvious that Hinata had feelings for the hyperactive blond. Well, to everyone except the boy himself.

"But it is not going anywhere, right Sakura-chan?" Lee asked with similar confusion to that of his teammate.

Tsunade's disciple let out a big sigh.

Well, to everyone except Naruto, Lee, and Neji.'

"Today Lord Hiashi has instructed me to watch over Hinata." He began, he too, was about to leave. "I must go find her." With a swift bow, he left in the direction of the Hyuga compound.

Sakura chuckled. "He might be dying to read the book too." She shrugged. "I don't know, it's hard to read him sometimes."

"You are not dying to read it, Sakura-chan?" Lee questioned.

"No, it's not that." Sakura waved off. "I am, it's just they seem extra interested."

"Well, I for one am not going to take this sitting down!" The busy browed Genin exclaimed.

"Huh?" Both Kakashi and his student blurted out dumbly. What was he talking about?

"This challenge that Naruto-kun has issued!" His eyes were once again lit up fiercely with a blazing fire. "While I cannot write a book myself, I will still accept the challenge! For every sentence that is in this book, I will do one pushup! And if I cannot do that, I will do one squat for every sentence, and if I cannot do that, I'll-"

I think we get the point, Lee." Kakashi said with a chuckle. "I'm sure Naruto accepts your challenge."

Upon hearing that response, the green-clad boy gave the two a passionate thumbs up with his trademark blindingly bright smile before running off towards the training grounds. Sakura and Kakashi had to shield their eyes so the boy's teeth didn't stun them.

It took them a moment to recover, but once they did teacher and student began walking down the busy streets of the Leaf Village.

"So." Sakura began. "What do you think his book is about?" She asked, waving around the bag containing the novel for added effect.

Kakashi thought for a moment. "If I know Naruto as well as I think I do, my first guess would be that it's about ramen." Most people would assume that he was joking, but he actually wasn't. Naruto really was THAT obsessed with noodles and broth.

The pink-haired kunoichi giggled fondly. "I could definitely see Naruto dedicating an entire book to ramen." She looked at the title of here close friends work. "But not in this case." Her tone a little more even, one could even detect a trace of sadness in it.

"Yeah." Kakashi agreed, thinking the same thing as her. That title alone told them that this wasn't going to be a funny story about food. It was going to have more substance.

"To be honest, I think I'm more interested in how he was able to even write a book," Sakura said, apparently still not over how this was even possible. "When he comes back, I'm gonna ask him how he did it."

"I'd be interested to hear that answer, too."

Sakura smiled brightly. "I'll see you later, Kakashi-sensei." She looked down at the book she was now clutching to her chest. "I guess I'm going to go… read a book by Naruto?" She shuddered. Just saying the words alone felt so surreal she got a slight chill. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just so very strange.

Kakashi nodded and watched his little student scamper off. Now he was all alone. 'I can't be the only one who's not reading it.' He thought to himself as he opened the book to the first page.

'This book is dedicated to Team 7. My first family.'

His teacher's visible eye widened slightly. He focused in on those words for what felt like 10 minutes. He was fully aware that Naruto grew up with practically nothing. No family, no friends, no one besides the Third Hokage he could actually spend any quality time with; and the Third was always so busy that he didn't even get much of that. However, despite that, Naruto never complained about any of it to him or the other members of Team 7. The boy always wore the brave face, acting as if nothing ever bothered him. So he was surprised to see such introspective and emotional words.

'He probably didn't expect us to ever see this.'

He turned to the next page.

'Chapter 1: Isolation.'

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Kakashi was stunned.

Every word, every page, it felt as though what he was reading was coming to life right before his eyes. Well, now that he thought about it, it was coming to life in front of him. The main character, Menma, held very similar beliefs to his blond student's. They both were caring, optimistic, and confident. Along with their comparable backstories of being shunned and ostracized, it was clear where the author got his inspiration from.

There is a key difference, though. Naruto, despite all of his hardships, puts on that impenetrable brave face all of the time. He never wants people to see how he is truly feeling. But in the story, we see all of Menma's struggles. The pressures that are continuously stacking on his shoulders, the sadness his past has left him with, and the loneliness he feels all of the time. All of these factors, plus the antagonists who are trying to steal the very power that has caused him to be isolated, affect his mind.

Simply put, an imperfect hero.

'It's as if this novel is giving us an all-access pass into Naruto's psyche.' The Copy Ninja thought to himself with a touch of sadness. 'I always knew he had to be dealing with a lot, but I never knew it was to this extent. I wonder if he was even consciously aware that he made a hero so much like himself.'

Kakashi blinked, then took in his surroundings. It was… dark? So dark, in fact, that the streetlights were on, illuminating the dim streets of the village. 'How long have I been walking around?' The usually hyperaware Jonin thought to himself, slightly shocked at how enthralled he had been in his reading. If he was being completely honest, the masked ninja didn't have high expectations for the book's quality of writing. After all, his student had, by far, the lowest academic tests results in the academy, sans Shikamaru; and that was only because the spiky-haired youth fell asleep during half of his tests.

In short, Naruto should have no business writing as well as he does. So that begs the question…

'What kind of training is Master Jiraiya putting him through?'

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 **Author's Note:** **Some people may be upset that we are diverging from the main story, but there are some people who have been interested in if Naruto's book had reached the Leaf village. There will be a part two to this Omake, but probably not until after what is happening up by Jiraiya and Naruto. If I made this 5000-7000 it would delay the actual progression of the story, so I figured splitting into two would be the best decision.**

 **Tell me what you think (good or bad) in the reviews. Thanks for reading!**

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 **Kail990:** Thank you for your open-mindedness and kind words, and I'm not accusing you of anything but your comment did mention something that I'd like to address. I don't think death has to only occur when it is 'needed.' Death happens around all of us everyday for no good reason at all. So I think an author that shies away from killing off characters either because they couldn't find a way to make their death seem needed or because they are afraid it will upset the audience is not doing as good of a job as they could be. That is not to say that every story needs to have character death, but it shouldn't be something you avoid for poor reasons like the ones I mentioned I make people mad? Probably, but that's alright. I can live with that.


	10. Family

**Author's Note: Anddddddddddd we're back to the main story (for now). The Part 2 wrap up to the Omake will be coming back shortly, but first I really want to conclude this first 'Arc', if you want to call it that. **

**As for the poll that I had put up, initially I wanted the first poll I put up to focus on the story pairing question. But I didn't want to put up an important poll like that and only get a few responses. So, you can just view that first one as a 'test-run' that was used to gauge the response rate. Considering it didn't get many votes (fewer than 10 as I'm writing this I believe) I will not be putting up the pairing poll anytime soon. Hopefully in the future enough people will be reading to make it more of a viable tool. Fingers crossed!**

 **That aside, I've been so happy with all of the reviews that this fic has received. The vast majority of people seem to be really enjoying it. Seriously, thank you. Even the reviews that aren't positive. They all help me make this story better.**

 **32 Reviews, 95 Favorites, 170 Follows, 12,726 Views! Thank you so much for the support!**

 **Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think in the reviews!**

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Chapter 9: Family

-Early This Morning-

Jiraiya kneeled next to the body and grimaced. While he had expected the worst when Naki hadn't shown up for their meeting, the scene before him left him slightly baffled. The Sage was no detective, but there was obviously a break-in and a subsequent struggle. The door had been busted down. He looked around the room, noting the deep slashes on the walls and floors. Then at the deceased man's arms and face. 'Wounds he got probably from struggling when being held down.' All of that was pretty normal for this kind of crime scene. There was only one thing that sent chills up his spine.

Naki's heart was gone. That could be chalked up as animals coming in through the broken-down door to eat the corpse, but they wouldn't take just the heart.

'This doesn't make any sense. Why would someone take his heart?'

Another thing that concerned the Sannin was the fact that someone had managed to kill Naki. The man was a strong Jonin who specialized in water jutsu, infiltration, and stealth. To be able to just charge through the door and defeat him in his environment was a very tall task. Whoever this was, they were very skilled. At least High-A, possibly S-Rank level.

He noticed some trace amounts of water droplets on the floor and the walls of the room. 'Naki probably tried to fend them off with his Jutsu.' Glancing over at the bookcase in the corner of the room, he took note that the books did not appear to be wet or damp. 'Looks like they didn't give him much opportunity to go on the defensive.'

Based on the state of the body, Jiraiya concluded that all of this had to have happened a couple days ago. 'With the door destroyed, no one came to check to see if everything was okay? They had to have heard the struggle!' Looks like he had some neighbors to question.

While stepping outside, in the corner of his eye something moved. He looked in that direction and saw that someone had shut their blinds swiftly. 'Oh, so I'm being watched? You have to do a better job than that. Don't make it so obvious.' Thinking to himself. 'I guess I have my first volunteer.' The sage mused as he walked over to the house that held the person who was trying to hide from him.

He knocked on the door.

…

Sighing, he knocked once more.

…

"I know you're in there. I saw you watching me through the window." He said just loud enough that whoever was in the house would hear him clearly.

…

"If you don't answer, I'm just going to take this door down.' He stated as he began knocking on the door for what he deemed was the last time.

…

Jiraiya didn't have time for this. He began gathering chakra into his palm to form the Rasengan. Just as he was about to blow the door down, the lock clicked. Dissipating his attack, he waited patiently as the door slowly opened, revealing a bald middle-aged man with a thick beard. He looked scared.

"Please don't hurt me." The man blurted out before the Sannin could say anything. His body was trembling, and it almost seemed as if the door he was holding onto was the only thing that was keeping him from collapsing to the ground. Whatever this stranger had seen, it had clearly rattled him.

"I'm not here to hurt you." Jiraiya said, trying his best to sound as reassuring as he possibly could. "I just need to know if you saw anything." He continued, gesturing towards the house of the deceased informant.

The bearded man stayed quiet, seemingly trying to determine whether or not he trusted the stranger who came knocking on his door.

"Please." The Sage continued. "The man who lived there, he was a friend of mine. We were supposed to meet earlier this morning, but when he never showed up, I figured something bad must have happened to him. Did you see anything that could help me find out who did this?" He asked genuinely.

The bald man suddenly collapsed against the door, unable to withstand the strain it took to stand. As the Leaf Jonin did his best to help him get to his feet, he noticed something.

This poor man's right leg, from the knee down, was gone. Cut clean from his body. What was worse was that this relatively fresh wound didn't appear to have been tended to by a medical professional. It was taped and wrapped sloppily, clearly by someone with no medical experience. He had probably tried to dress it himself.

Jiraiya, now unofficially invited into this victim's house, helped him sit down in a nearby chair. "They'll kill me if I do." He finally said after a long stretch of petrified silence.

Whoever had dismembered this person was also the one who had killed Naki. This Jiraiya knew. 'Seems like they didn't want any witnesses. And if there was only one person that saw them kill Naki, scaring him into not talking was a better option than killing him outright. That could've attracted even more attention. That's why they cut off his leg.'

Something felt off to Naruto's Master. This all seemed like too much of a coincidence. The Akatsuki being spotted relatively close to where he and his ward were. Not only that but in a place where they were planning on going to soon. 'We're separated right now. And Naki, what if his death was used as a distraction to keep me here...?' Something in his brain suddenly clicked.

"Naruto!" He yelled aloud, startling the fragile man.

He looked back at the wounded man, his eyes were now desperate. "Please, you have to tell me who these people were! My Godson might be in danger!" He was frantic. This guy needed to cooperate with him.

However, before answering, he just stared at his leg. The two monsters who came promised to do much worse if they had to come back. He couldn't bring himself to open his mouth, too petrified by the fear of death.

Jiraiya tried his best to calm down. As desperate as he was, he couldn't bring himself to harm an innocent person who had already been made into a victim. "Please, just tell me this." He began, hopeful that he would be able to get just enough information to confirm or deny his fears. "Does the person who did this to you wear a black cloak with blood-red clouds?"

The bearded stranger recoiled at the description as if he didn't want to remember that terrible cloak himself. He stared Jiraiya in the eyes, lip quivering, and gave him a weak nod. That was all he could muster.

The Sage's eyes widened, his worst fear coming to life right before his eyes. He whipped a scroll and pen out of his pocket and began to furiously scribble. 'I have to tell Tsunade what's going on. They might be able to send backup if I need it.' He glanced down at the scared man who was still able to help him even if it meant signing his own death sentence. 'And I can ask her if we can grant him asylum in the Leaf.'

Now finished writing his message to the Hokage, he wrapped the scroll up and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

'Poof.'

A tiny red and blue toad with goggles around his neck appeared. "What is it Jiraiya?" He asked, prepared to speed off at a moment's notice.

"Kosuke, I need you to take this to Tsunade as fast as you can. My student is probably in danger."

No time for talking, the toad named Kosuke grabbed the letter and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Good, he'll go back to Mt. Myoboku and then use the well that will take him right outside the village.' He turned to the man that helped him. "Thank you so much." He thanked with a bow. "I asked the Hokage if she could give you asylum in the Leaf Village. Just keep the door locked and don't let anyone else in until Leaf ninja arrives to get you."

Before the man could get out any words of gratitude to thank the odd stranger, 'Jiraiya' disappeared in a plume of smoke.

He blinked in confusion.

…

A wave of memories flooded back to the real Jiraiya, who had already been speeding through the forest towards the Land of Waves. He gritted his teeth in anger at what his clone had learned and immediately sped up to his maximum.

He had a bad feeling about the entire situation, so when Naki didn't meet up with him he decided going back to regroup with his student would be the best choice. Naki was so reliable that him not showing up most likely meant he was already dead, meaning that leaving a clone behind to collect evidence was more efficient than going himself. Having just learned what his copy had uncovered, he was beyond grateful that he made the correct choice.

"Akatsuki." He growled in a low, threatening voice. "You had better not lay a hand on Minato's son, or you'll regret it."

* * *

All three set of eyes were now completely transfixed on the new arrival. The tension could be sliced by a butter knife. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Jiraiya, however, had no interest in any of that at the moment. His eyes were too busy scanning the area for his ward.

"Where is he?" The Sage broke the silence that had fallen over the battling Shinobi.

With the one named Hidan distracted by the arrival of the Leaf's most powerful ninja, Uddo suddenly ripped himself from his grasp. As he was leaping away, he undid the Jutsu that was concealing the young blond.

He was still lifeless.

Hidan sneered, ripping out the Tanto that was still buried in his chest.

Jiraiya was so overcome with worry that he didn't even register that Tsunade had assigned the Leaf's only Wood Style user to protect Naruto. Noticing this, the mystery Shinobi was quick to calm him down. "He's not hurt." He tried to reassure. "He's just been through a lot." Uddo finished as he picked the boy up and slung him over his shoulder.

Kakuzu, using this conversation as a way to get the jump on his opponent, used his free hand to aim a punch at his opponent face.

Jiraiya, still looking away, simply leaned to the side, allowing the punch to fly harmlessly past him. Anger flaring up once more, he wrenched Kakuzu's wrist back, hell-bent on snapping it in two.

The deep-voiced Akatsuki member remained silent but grimaced behind his mask. He went for a leg sweep but was taken off-guard when Jiraiya threw a swift knee to his gut, forcing him down to one knee. The Sannin didn't notice his opponent's free hand turning a darker, almost black, color.

Just as Jiraiya was aiming an elbow to the back of his head, Kakuzu swiped down, severing the part of the tree branch that Jiraiya had been standing on. Slightly surprised, Naruto's mentor was forced to let go of the masked man's hand as he began freefalling.

He landed lightly on the ground, a scowl adorning his lips.

Hidan, seeing his opportunity, rushed him from behind. He pulled out a small black rod that extended into a spear-like weapon. He slashed at his target.

'Poof.'

He stumbled forward. "Another substitution?!" Hidan yelled angrily. "Where did he go?!"

"Rasengan!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he slammed his blue, spherical Jutsu into the unsuspecting criminal's back.

Hidan let out a startled yelp and was sent spiraling away from the force of the Jutsu.

Kakuzu dropped down from the trees, landing next to his partner; once again holding the dismembered head of the bridgebuilder.

"Get up, Hidan."

"Shut the Hell up, Kakuzu! That really hurt, you know?"

"Master Jiraiya." The Wood Style user began. "The one you just hit with your Jutsu, I don't know if it's some cheap trick or not, but I think he might be immortal." He sounded like he didn't even believe it himself. "He was stabbed twice in the chest, and not only does he seem fine, but those wounds are healed!"

Jiraiya nodded, noticing the necklace the strange man wore. "I've heard of something like this. A cult, calling themselves the Way of Jashin. They claim that through their adherence to their insane religion, by way of rituals including human sacrifice and mass murder, the followers can gain access to an ability similar to immortality." He remained quiet for a minute, seemingly trying to remember more details. "From what I recall, there were rumors that they had one successful case. Although, again, that was just a rumor I heard from one of my informants in the Hot Water Village."

'Naki…'

Uddo shuddered but nodded. "I see…"

"500 million."

Jiraiya's eyes shifted back to the shorter one.

"That's how much the bounty on your head is, did you know that?"

The Sage didn't answer.

"Now I can see in person why it's so high." His eyes drifted back to the ninja he was fighting before the Sannin's arrival. "And an incredibly rare Wood Style user, too." His eyes narrowed menacingly. "It enrages me that I won't be able to collect your bounties today. Together, you two would net me north of 800 million. I'll have to settle for this." Gesturing to the head he was holding. "A pity, really."

Jiraiya scoffed. "And who said I was just going to let you walk away? If I killed you two right now, that's two less Akatsuki trash to worry about."

Hidan, scythe once again in hand, brandished it menacingly. However, he was quickly cut off by his more calculating partner.

"You wouldn't want to endanger the boy there." He pointed to Naruto with his free hand. "Sure, you could let the Wood user scurry off to safety, but then you run the risk of their being more of us close by."

"If there were more of you, they'd be here by now." Jiraiya countered.

"Perhaps." Kakuzu's poker face was perfect, he was unreadable. "Then again, even if it was just only us and he gets away, are you that confident that you could defeat both of us at the same time?" It was a verbal and mental chess match, and both were experts in it. "With very limited knowledge of what our abilities are, is that the best move?"

"Sounds to me like you're bluffing." The Sage challenged back. "I'm right here if you want to fight."

In actuality, both were bluffing. Neither wanted to fight the other, except for maybe Hidan. Jiraiya, being outnumbered and unaware of the fighting abilities of his opponents, knew that it would be unwise to engage in combat. While there was a good possibility he would win, did he want to run that risk when Naruto needed him more than ever right now? No, he couldn't.

As for Kakuzu, he was warned by his leader to retreat if the Sannin somehow managed to show his face. That, coupled with the reputation of the man he was staring down with, made him reluctant to make an aggressive move. Even if there were two of them to his one.

Meanwhile, Hidan was doing his best to keep quiet. Even he knew when it wasn't his time to butt in.

"Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to capture the Nine-Tails." Kakuzu warned, his free hand coming up to form the ram seal. "There's no reason for us to fight today, Jiraiya of the Sannin."

The two partners disappeared in a plume of smoke, leaving the three leaf ninja by themselves.

The tension in the air receded, and Uddo found himself taking in a large gulp of air. He hadn't even realized he had forgotten to breathe. Even a powerful ninja like him felt useless when compared to three S-Level powerhouses.

Now that the threat was gone, the teacher could turn his attention back to his student. "He's catatonic." He said to himself aloud. "What happened to him?" He was confident he wouldn't like the answer.

"The head that that Akatsuki was holding, he was a dear friend of Naruto-san. He had been staying with a family of three that he had met when they liberated this land from Gato, I believe that the other two may very well be dead, as well."

Jiraiya's shoulders slumped at the news. His pupil had been so excited to see these friends of his, and then this happens. With everything that has been swirling in the life and mind of the hunted Jinchuriki, this was another thing that a 12-year-old shouldn't have to deal with.

'I don't know how much more of this he can take, Minato.' His thoughts were somber.

"I'll carry him." Jiraiya said. Uddo obliged and handed over the blond, who was then placed on his mentor's back; piggyback style. "Tsunade was smart to send you of all people to watch over Naruto."

The mystery Shinobi nodded. "Indeed, although I didn't have to use it, my abilities can be used to suppress the Nine-Tails chakra." Although his face didn't show it, he was a little surprised at the Sannin's reaction. "You seem to know of me, even though my existence is a well-guarded secret within the village. How?"

"Well, I am close to Tsunade." The lecherous man began. "Though, it was actually Kakashi that told me about you. If I'm not mistaken, you're Tenzo, correct?"

Tenzo let out an embarrassed chuckle. His name was a complicated subject, but Kakashi always referred to him as Tenzo. So much so, that it kind of stuck. "Yes. Call me Tenzo." Was the ANBU Elite's response.

"Would you mind accompanying us back to the Land of Waves?"

"Why? We should be heading back to the Leaf Vil-"

"It's for Naruto. If those other two are still somehow alive, he would want me to make sure that they were okay."

Tenzo paused, unsure of what to do. The Hokage had instructed him to return Naruto to the village immediately if something bad had happened. But, did that give him the authority to disagree with another Sannin? Even if it did, he couldn't do it. If Jiraiya wanted to do something, there was nothing he would be able to do to stop him anyway.

Tenzo simply nodded his agreeance.

"Okay." Jiraiya began. "Let's go."

* * *

They were approaching the Great Naruto Bridge. The entire trip up until this point had been silent between the two Shinobi. Jiraiya was too busy worrying about the child on his back to make small-talk conversation, and Tenzo wasn't much of a talker anyway.

"No…"

Jiraiya stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Naru-"

"No!" Naruto was beginning to become restless, despite his eyes remaining shut. "Please don't hurt them." His voice was pleading.

"Naruto." He placed his student down on the bridge, lightly shaking him. "It's okay. Everything is okay." He didn't know what to do. How could he make his student feel better? After tragically losing three important people, what could someone say that would make it hurt less?

"Not it's not…" He was sobbing lightly now, eyes still closed. "T-They're dead. They're all dead."

The Sage was silent, wracking his brain to try and find a way to calm his pupil down.

"I-It's my fault." Sobbing and sniffling of the child was growing even louder. "If it wasn't for m-me being here, t-they would still be alive."

"It isn't your fault, Naruto." His voice was genuine. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I should've realized that this was an Akatsuki trap. I failed you…" The emotions he was seeing the young blond struggle with were breaking his heart.

"No, it's my fault. I can't protect anyone precious to me." He lamented through his choked speech. "O-Old Man Third, S-Sasuke, Inari, Tsunami, T-Tazuna…" He clutched his chest tightly where his heart was, a searing hot pain washing over him. "I don't deserve to have this bridge named after me. I'm pathetic."

"Naruto…" Jiraiya was at a loss for words. He desperately wished for Minato and Kushina's wisdom as parents.

"I have no real f-family, and I b-barely have any of my precious p-people left." It was true. All he had left was Kakashi, Sakura, and Jiraiya.

"That's not true… I'm your family." This wasn't something he ever thought he was going to say. Should he say it? The Sannin still wasn't sure if it was a smart thing to do. But Naruto needed to hear it, it could be the only thing that could stop this downward spiral that he was going on. The blond needed to know why he cared for him as much as he did.

Naruto's eyes opened, filled with tears he looked up at his teacher. "What do you mean?"

"I was very close to your father." He scratched the back of his head, still unsure if he should utter these next words. "And he made me your Godfather." He did his best to smile brightly to show Naruto that he wasn't alone like he thought he was.

The boy's eye's widened. He was speechless, barely able to process what the older man had just said. Was it true? "Wha-"

"Why do you think I took so much of an interest in you? Or why I'm trying my best to make sure you become as strong as possible? For the Leaf's militaristic interests? No, it's because you're my family and I care about you deeply." The man's words were completely genuine. He had thought of The Fourth Hokage as the son he had always wanted. The instant he had learned he would be the godfather to Naruto, those feelings carried over to him, as well.

"Family…" He repeated that one word in a low whisper. While the deaths of his friends still had unforeseen effects on the Genin, he was no longer shedding tears.

Noticing this, Jiraiya put his hand out for Naruto to grab. "Now get up. We have to check on your friends and the village."

The vessel of the Nine-Tails stared at the hand for a moment, but then grabbed it and pulled himself to his feet. Not saying anything, he just began to walk towards the house of the now-deceased bridgebuilder.

'I have to watch him carefully. He's showing signs of psychological trauma.' The white-haired ninja thought to himself worriedly. 'Who knows what kind of lasting effects this could have on his mind.'

They continued on in silence to where the tragedy had taken place.

…

Bodies everywhere. The smell of smoke filled the air. The explosion, probably instigated by one of the Akatsuki member's attacks, appeared to have instantly killed everyone that had been in close proximity; including the two ANBU that had initially confronted them.

"The rest of the town seems to have evacuated." Jiraiya said aloud, hoping any amount of minuscule good news could cheer his godson up. 'Still, this looks like it was a high traffic area. We're looking at about 50 civilian casualties.' He kept that last bit of information to himself. Only monsters could inflict this kind of damage without a second thought. A perfect example of why the Akatsuki needed to be taken down.

Naruto, face expressionless, walked past all of the charred corpses that littered the street, not even glancing in their general direction. Getting closer to the house, eyes fell on the body of Tazuna. His vacant stare was the polar opposite of what he had been like earlier. After a long pause, he walked past the decapitated bridgebuilder, into the house that he had once felt at home in.

The two Jonin followed behind him but didn't say anything. The boy didn't need any distractions right now. The three ninjas thoroughly checked every room in the damaged house.

The bodies of the other two were nowhere to be found. Yet, the kitchen floors were painted with blood.

"This blood is still somewhat wet, but there's no trail." The Sage was stumped. "It's as if they disappeared."

The blond stared blankly at the bloodstains; his face unreadable. Jiraiya, unsure of what his student was thinking, remained quiet for the time being.

"I can't even give them a proper burial." Naruto finally stated; his voice bone-chillingly monotonous. "Why do people do things like this?" The broken boy asked.

Jiraiya, unsure if the question was rhetorical or not, decided to answer it anyway. "This world we live in has way too much hate in it."

"Too much hate?" Naruto asked, but didn't take his eyes off the blood coating the floor.

Jiraiya walked to his godson's side, nodding somberly. "People are driven by hatred, so much so that they will do unspeakable things to their fellow people. I've always wanted to do something about all of this hate."

"What could you do?"

Jiraiya sighed lightly. "This is something that I've been thinking about for a long time. I don't have the answer right now, but I truly believe that there will come a day where all human beings will understand one another and live in harmony."

Naruto remained silent.

"Maybe if I can't figure out what to do, I'll entrust you to find that answer for me, Naruto."

"I… don't think that's possible."

All he thought of were the sadistic Akatsuki duo. From what he had gathered, they only had two targets. Himself and Tazuna. Yet, they killed dozens of innocent people. Not only that, but they appeared to have enjoyed causing all of this death and chaos. If there were people like that in this world cursed by hatred, would there come a day where everyone would live in harmony? The blond couldn't see how that was feasible. Not after what he just saw.

"Well, what do you think we should do?"

There was a brief moment of silence, as Naruto seemed to mull over his Mentor's words. Finally, he decided.

"If we just snuff out all of that hatred, no more innocent people would have to die like this. Wouldn't that solve all of our problems?"

They traded a glance that told the Sage more than words could ever.

Naruto was finally beginning to understand the horrors of the world. The only problem was, having seen those horrors firsthand at such a young age, how would that change his future?

* * *

 **Author's Note: The tone shift in this chapter is a drastic, but necessary one considering everything that has happened. While I won't be abandoning humor in this fic, this is by no means a light-hearted, funny series. I'm aiming for something more serious and impactful.**

 **Leave your reviews and I'll make sure chapter 10 is out in under two weeks! Your words are my motivation. **

**The Omake will wrap up either after chapter 10 or Chapter 11, I have to see how it plays out. I will let you know in the Author's Note of the next chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **deniswanheda** \- I assume that there are other who expected Naruto to access the Nine-Tails chakra. The reason why that didn't happen will be addressed later, so don't worry. As for Naruto resigning himself, I've made it a point of emphasis throughout the story that Naruto has been struggling with all the pressure mounting on his shoulders. The sudden death of those in Wave completes a string of very recent devastating losses that Naruto has gone through (Third Hokage, Sasuke, Inari, Tsunami, Tazuna). That, coupled with not getting any Fox chakra to fuel his rage, led to what you saw. At that moment, he had had enough. He was tired.

 **nughar2.0 -** Thank you for the high praise, and I will do my best keep it up! As for the whole Kurama saying 'Kit' thing, he will definitely not be saying that. And not just because you mentioned it, I never intended that to be apart of this story. I've never been a fan when fics have him say that. Just doesn't seem very natural to me.

 **Richard1081 \- **It has reached The Sand Village, but I haven't decided if I'll show that like I did with The Leaf Village. But we will see in part 2 of the Omake! Maybe I will if enough people say that want to see that! The book will play a big role in the post-time skip story, as well. Stay tuned!

 **ThelittleKing \- **Thank you for the kind words! I'm trying to do things a little different than others so hopefully I continue to do things you aren't expecting. As for the entirety of the Fic, this story will most definitely go far beyond the time skip so don't worry about that. We'll be in the time skip for a little while longer, as I want to develop Naruto correctly. This takes quite a bit of time so I hope everyone understands why I'm doing it this way.


	11. Onward

**Author's Note: I am so happy with the amount of reviews that this fic has gotten since uploading the last chapter. It was by far the most I have gotten, so, as I promised, I'm back again with chapter 10 within 2 weeks. The second and final part of the Omake will be next, so maybe some more reviews and I'll upload within 10 days of this? Wink Wink. (The conclusion of the Omake is rather short which makes 10 days seem fair.)**

 **Chapter 9 was by far my most divisive chapter I've released so far, some people loved it and others had their issues that they made known. And that is okay because I love reading both positive and negative feedback. I just like knowing what you guys are thinking as you read, so thank you. Those who had questions or concerns will be addressed after the ending Author's Note like usual.**

 **Story Stats as of 8/9/19:**

 **Reviews - 53**

 **Favorites - 114**

 **Followers - 203**

 **Views - 15,916**

 **The support for this story recently has been amazing!**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts in the reviews!**

* * *

Chapter 10: Onward

Naruto knelt in front of the graves, reciting a prayer that wishes good fortune to his friends now in the afterlife. Though there was only one body, he thought of all three of them. Opening his eyes, looking next to the freshly dug up dirt, there were two others he knew all too well.

He had buried Tazuna next to Zabuza and Haku.

'How ironic.' He thought to himself humorlessly. 'How the contracted killer and the man he was hired to kill would share the same eternal resting place.' Despite that thought, the blond knew that in the end, Zabuza was a good person. That's why he felt that it was appropriate that all three of them should be next to one another.

They were all good people who died because they got caught up in a bad situation.

'Rest peacefully. I'm sorry for my weakness…'

"How are you feeling, Naruto?" The sage asked him from behind.

Naruto stood up slowly, lightly dusting the dirt off of the front of his pants. "I think I feel a little better." He answered with an even tone. "They deserved better, though."

"I know." Jiraiya agreed somberly.

Silence reigned over them for a few moments. The blond had been wanting to ask his Godfather a question since he had found out about it, but he never figured out a good way to bring it up. Finally, he decided he would just go ahead and ask.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were my Godfather when we first met? Or, even, before that?" His tone wasn't accusing, he was just curious about the whole situation. Never once did he stop and think why an insanely powerful ninja like Jiraiya was interested in being around him as much as he was. The boy was just happy there was someone strong around that was willing to teach him cool Jutsu. Looking back on it, the only reason that it would make sense is if the Sage and he had some sort of bond he wasn't aware of.

Jiraiya let out a long sign, signaling his discomfort with the topic. "It's complicated." He began with an unusually serious tone. "I never had what it takes to be a father. If you had someone like me as a father figure, who knows how you would've turned out." The Sannin was being uncharacteristically hard on himself. "If you had turned out a failure like me, because of me, I would never be able to face your father."

Naruto frowned at his Mentor's self-deprecating words. "Well, I don't care what you think, you're not a failure and I wouldn't trade you for anyone."

Jiraiya smiled, touched by his student's unexpectedly kind words. "You aren't mad at me?"

"I... don't think so." The boy said slowly as he tried to sort through the things he was feeling. "I may not have known you for very long, but I know that you usually have a good reason for the things that you do."

"I do feel guilty about not being there for you. If you want to hate me, I wouldn't blame you." There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"It was tough. Living in a village by myself where everyone hated me and wanted me gone."

"I know, Naruto. I'm sorry. I've made a lot of mistakes, and those mistakes have made things much more difficult on you." Speaking from the heart wasn't something the Toad Sage did often. "From now on, I'll be better. I promise."

Instead of anger or sadness, the boy smiled slightly. "I forgive you. I'm just happy that I actually have a real family!" He thought for a moment. "Well, kind of. It's just you and me, but still!"

"Thanks, kid..."

"No problem, ya big perv!"

Jiraiya sweatdropped. 'Guess that'll never change.' He thought to himself with a laugh.

There was something else Naruto desperately wanted to know. Since Jiraiya was his Godfather, that meant that he knew his parents. But, while he wanted to hear every little detail about his parents, he was hesitant to ask about them. They had had a close relationship, meaning there was a good chance that asking about them would reopen a wound that his teacher wasn't ready for. So, out of respect, he would wait for Jiraiya to bring it up. When he was ready to do so.

Naruto looked at the two Jonin that were accompanying him. "What do we do now?" He asked.

As if by fate, a team of Leaf ANBU converged on the scene.

"Master Jiraiya." Boar began in a deep voice. "We need to debrief all three of you on what transpired."

Jiraiya waved him off. "Sorry, but we can't. You can debrief Tenzo, but Naruto and I aren't staying long." He countered casually.

The ANBU team, Tenzo included, seemed slightly taken aback by his response. "Sir, we're under strict orders to not only debrief you three but to ensure Naruto returns safely to the village immediately."

Jiraiya's and Naruto's ears perked at that last part. "Are those Tsunade's orders?" He asked, despite having a hunch he already knew the answer.

The masked ninja shifted uncomfortably. "No, not exactly, sir." The reluctant answer caught both of their attention.

Though he didn't seem like it, Naruto was listening intently to this conversation. 'If she didn't give that order, then who did?'

'Danzo.' Jiraiya inwardly sneered. He was hoping that rat wouldn't have gotten word of what happened. Danzo was one of the people who opposed him taking his Godson out of the village for an extended period. He had even gone so far as to convince the other higher-ups that their precious military weapon was safer inside the village, where they could watch him vigilantly. They would have to kill the Sannin if they planned on keeping his student locked up like one of Orochimaru's test subjects.

Luckily for him, Tsunade had his back throughout the whole ordeal. Though, her power only extends so far. Once the Elders had found out that Naruto was almost stolen away by the Akatsuki a second time, she probably lost all of her authority on the matter.

"I'll send a report to Tsunade, don't worry." He stated calmly. "However, Naruto and I won't be returning to the village yet."

Boar cleared his throat. "With all due respect, due to what happened the boy can no longer be allowed to freely walk outside the walls of the village."

Naruto's eyes narrowed menacingly. "So I'm just a weapon to all of you?" He nearly spat at the Black Ops. "They don't care about my life at all, they just don't want to lose the Nine-Tails." He was boiling over in rage. Now that he experienced it firsthand, he could see more and more clearly what human nature was truly like.

Jiraiya, too, was beginning to lose his temper. "You can tell the Elder's that he's not some dog that needs to be locked in a cage. The kid is safe with me, I'm not going to leave his side again." The Sage stated with finality. He was fully aware that they weren't going to try and take his student by force. They hadn't brought nearly enough ANBU for that.

"…I'll let them know, sir." Reluctance evidence in his tone. Despite their disagreement, the ANBU bowed professionally, and with the company of Tenzo, turned around to go back to the village.

"Thank you." Naruto said with some of the first emotion his mentor had heard from him all day.

"I already told you, we're family. As long as I'm alive they aren't going to treat you like some weapon." He gave his pupil a reassuring thumbs-up.

Naruto gave him a weak smile in return. At least somehow treated him like he was a human being.

"Where are we headed too now?" The Genin asked, trying his best to move past what had just happened.

"Funny you should ask that." The older man responded while biting his thumb. "I think instead of just telling you, I'll show you."

Naruto's eyebrow rose in intrigue, but he said nothing.

"Summoning Jutsu!" The Toad Master exclaimed, after running through a series of hand signs.

'Poof.'

"Yo, what's up." The tiny red toad Gamakichi greeted with a half-lazy wave as the smoke began to clear.

"Hey, can you let them know that Naruto and I are coming in for a visit?" Jiraiya asked the Toad Chief's son.

Gamakichi's eyes lit up at the thought of his blond friend coming to visit his home. "Really?! Sure thing!" He looked over at Naruto. "I'll see you soon, Naruto!" That was followed by a soft 'poof!'

The blond boy just looked confused. "What was that all about?" He wasn't sure what was going on. "He said he'd see me soon, even though he was already here?"

"Just wait, you'll see."

There a brief bit of silence, which annoyed Naruto. He disliked being out of the loop.

"What are we waiting f-"

'Poof!'

The two leaf ninja disappeared in a plume of smoke.

* * *

'Poof!'

"Woah." The blond groaned, bringing a hand up to clutch his now pounding head. "What just happened?" He asked, doing his best to regain his bearings.

"What just happened was a reverse summon." Came an old-sounding voice.

Naruto blinked. Wherever he was, it was not the land of waves. This new place had beautiful, colorful, and lush plant-life, enormous mushrooms as tall as trees, large stone frogs with water spewing from their agape mouths. It was awe-inspiring. "Where am I?"

"This is Mount Myoboku, Naruto-boy." The polite voiced chimed in again.

There was that voice again. He swirled around in the direction it had come from. Only no one was there?

"Down here!"

Looking down, the Genin saw a tiny, green toad, no taller than a couple of feet high. The toad had a tuft of white hair styled in what appeared to be a mohawk, very thick eyebrows, and a small goatee of the same color.

"Uhhhh…" The boy was at a loss.

"Naruto." Jiraiya began, gesturing to the tiny animal who had just been talking. "This is Lord Fukasaku. He's one of my masters."

"Uhhhh…"

Jiraiya leaned down to whisper in the green toad's ear. "Give him a minute, he's a bit slow."

Fukasaku chuckled warmly at his young guest. "It's true. I taught Jiraiya-boy almost everything he knows." The aforementioned student coughed loudly in protest, but it was ignored. "And we did a lot of that teaching here." Gesturing to their current surroundings. "This is my home, the home of all summoning toads. Mount Myoboku." The old toad explained slowly.

As Naruto was trying to process all of this brand new information, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Naruto!" Gamakichi yelled as he hopped over. "I told you I would see you again! So what do you think of my home? Pretty great, right?"

"Yeah." The blond nodded his agreement. "This place is beautiful."

"Kichi-boy, why don't you show Naruto-boy around. I have some catching up to do with my old student."

The young toad nodded in understanding. "You heard em'. Lemme show you around, Naruto."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Jiraiya added in. "We'll be right here waiting for you, kid."

Naruto nodded and followed Gamakichi. Lord Fukasaku's eyes were trained on the Sannin's student.

"So…" The old toad began. "Is that the one? The child of prophecy?"

Jiraiya leaned up against a tall tree-like mushroom and let out a loud, tired-sounding sigh.

"I think it's very possible, but every time I thought that, well, you know what's happened." His voice was laced with a touch of sadness. The powerful Leaf ninja had trained many impressive ninjas.

All of which are now dead.

Fukasaku nodded knowingly. "There is more than just that, isn't there? You wouldn't bring him here just for a visit. Did something happen recently?"

"There were some… things that happened." He said vaguely. "The kid has a lot on his plate right now. I just want to make sure that, if he is the child of prophecy, when the time comes to make the 'critical selection', I make the right choice."

"Ah, so you're here to see him for guidance?" To which his pupil nodded. "But why bring Naruto-boy here?"

"With the Akatsuki out there, I can't leave his side." He grimaced, thinking of back in the village. "And I don't trust the village Elders if I were to leave him back in the Leaf."

"I see."

"We'll probably be here for a while, Boss. If that's okay?"

That question elicited a smile from his Master. "Of course, you're always welcome. I'm sure Ma will love to see ya again. And meet Naruto-boy, as well."

A wave of relief washed over the Leaf's Toad Sage. While he knew he was always welcome with open arms in Mount Myoboku, being there and away from everything else that was happening was going to be good for both Naruto, and him.

"Thanks, Boss."

* * *

"Eat up, Pa, Jiraiya-boy, Naruto-boy!"

Naruto gulped audibly; his face practically blue with discomfort. A loud, but very nice toad that Jiraiya called 'Ma'am' just placed several plates of bugs down on the dinner table that they were all sitting around. Fukasaku immediately began to dig in, making sounds of enjoyment with every bite. The blond almost threw up when the green toad swallowed a beetle whole that was the size of Gamakichi's head.

The Genin's eyes began to comically bulge out of his head when even Jiraiya began to start eating.

"Thanks for the food!" He thanked as he sunk his teeth into a dish of colorful looking bugs.

Upon seeing the shocked look of his student, Jiraiya leaned closer to him to whisper. "You'll get a bit used to it eventually, trust me." He began. "Besides, if you don't eat it, Ma will get mad." The warning fell partially on deaf ears

"You want me to eat bugs?!" The student whispered back harshly. "What happened to you wanting me to eat healthily?! I'm a boy, not a frog!"

"Is everything okay, dearies?" Ma asked affectionately.

"Uh, y-yeah." Fukasaku's student replied. "Naruto has just never had any of this food before."

"Oh, you'll love it." Pa chimed in. "Ma here is an amazing cook." His wife blushed at the compliment.

Naruto's stomach rumbled. He let out a deep sigh.

'I'm so hungry…'

He looked at the 'food', then at Jiraiya. A look the Sage immediately understood.

'I never want to hear you complain when I eat ramen ever again.'

When he was sure neither of the toads was looking, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb and began scarfing down everything on his plate.

'Crunch!'

He almost gagged. Not because of the taste, no. Even though the hold on his nose had dulled the senses of taste, some of the flavors still made their way through. The flavor was surprisingly not terrible; it was the texture of the food that made him want to vomit. It was crunchy on the outside and mushy in the middle, almost like he was eating, well, bugs. That's because he was eating bugs!

The boy didn't know how yet, but his Godfather was going to suffer for this. Someone had to.

After shoving all of the bugs into his mouth at once, he slammed down a glass of water to wash them, and the taste, down his throat.

The plate of 'frog food' was now finished.

"Oh, he loved it!" Fukasaku's wife said, admiring the swiftness in which the boy ate her cooking.

"I told you." Pa added.

"Yeah." Naruto lied, sweating from the strain the colorful insects had just put himself through. "Great."

"So, Naruto-boy." Pa began. "How do you like our home?"

Naruto didn't answer for a few seconds, still coming to grips that he had just eaten frog food. "It's… really a beautiful place." His face scrunched up in deep thought. "Though, it feels different somehow."

Jiraiya's ears perked up. "Different? How so?" Voice attentive.

"I don't really know how to explain it." The confusion was evident in his tone of voice. "It's just, the air feels different. If that makes any sense?"

Eyebrow now raised, The Sannin glanced over at the old toads at the other side of the table. Both looked mildly surprised that the kid appeared to already be sensing some levels of natural energy.

"It's a special place." Was the simple explanation the blond was given by his teacher.

Naruto nodded. "I can see that." Not picking up the non-verbal communication that was happening between the other three.

"Kid." Jiraiya broke the boy away from his musing. "A lot has happened, and for the time being we're gonna be staying here."

The Genin lowered his gaze. Understanding why Jiraiya was bringing it up was easy, but he was doing his best to try and forget what had happened in Wave. Thinking about it wouldn't do anyone any good.

"If you want, we can take a break from train-"

"No." Naruto raised his gaze, locking eyes with his teacher. "I'm ready." Words strong as steel.

Jiraiya looked at him for what seemed like a long time. Was it a good idea to jump back into training so quickly? Jiraiya didn't know. He couldn't know. Everyone deals with hardship differently. Maybe the best thing would be to jump straight back into training. Besides, the Akatsuki weren't going to give them extra time. The boy needed to get stronger, as soon as possible.

That was it. The decision was made.

"Okay. It's late, so we'll start back up first thing in the morning." Words eliciting a nod from the young student.

Conversation between Ma and Pa resuming, the Sage tried to tune it out and focus on the serenity of Mount Myoboku. The soft chirping of the toad inhabitants could be heard from outside the kitchen window, sounding similar to the noises of the forests they had spent so much time in these past few months. Yet, it was calmer; more peaceful. Suddenly, a chill washed over his body. Eyes snapping open, focusing on the retreating form of his student who was headed off to bed.

Hoping he had made the right choice, not just for his student's sake, but for the world.

…

"You're too weak."

Naruto opened his eyes and sat up. No longer laying on the floor in the room the small toads, Jiraiya, and he was sharing. Strangely enough, the boy was sitting in his bed.

'What the hell is going on.' Whatever it was, it felt off.

Standing up, the blond walked over to his window. Just as he was about to push it open, the floor beneath him began to rumble. "Woah! What the-" Stumbling about, just managing to open them up. His eyes widened in horror.

This really was the Leaf Village. And... the entire village was on fire.

"No, not again…" The sharp, burning pain that had been in his chest earlier was creeping its way back.

Instincts taking over, he leaped out of the window onto the ground outside of his apartment.

Terrible screams could be heard in the distance. Screams that sounded familiar.

Taking off in that direction, hopes growing dim about what he was about to see, the boy had only one thing running through his mind.

'Nothing like that can ever happen again. I won't let it!'

The horrible cries for help were getting closer. Leaping over a wooden fence, he arrived at the scene.

"Naruto, wait! You have to get out of here, now!" It was Jiraiya, but, standing behind him were the two Akatsuki members that had crushed the Land of Waves. They had a kunai to his throat.

Littered around them were bodies. More specifically, the bodies of his friends. Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Lee, Neji, Tenten. They were all dead, throats slashed.

Naruto remained still; heart caught in his throat. Not again… This couldn't be happening again! It didn't make any sense; he shouldn't be here right now. The Akatsuki, they shouldn't be here either!

Tears began to freely run down the now alone boy's cheek, but a sound did not escape his lips. That was it. Despite not having much left to begin with, they had taken everything he had remaining from him.

"Why, why is there happening to me."

Kakuzu smiled sinisterly behind his dark-colored mask. "Because, you're too weak!" The sharp kunai was dragged harshly across the throat of his mentor.

"No!"

Naruto awoke in a cold sweat, tears streaming down his cheeks. Heart beating furiously in his chest. Looking to the left, Jiraiya was there sleeping peacefully on his side. To the right, Lord Fukasaku and the female toad he later learned was named Lady Shima were still passed out, as well.

Realizing, he was no longer in the Leaf, but back in Mount Myoboku, his lips let out a shaky sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness." Tone down to a whisper.

Unlike the last nightmare that occurred, Naruto could remember every detail upon waking up. Though, he desperately wished he couldn't. It was too painful. And those words, they rang painfully in his ears over and over.

'You're too weak.'

Gripping his chest tightly, he couldn't help but agree with those words. They were right after all; many precious people have died because he had been too weak to protect them.

That was why training had to resume as soon as possible. Maybe with that training, no one close to him would have to die? No one at all would have to die. The strength to protect innocent people from harm. That was the goal.

The only current issue? There was no way he would be getting any more sleep tonight.

* * *

Naruto let out a long, obnoxious yawn that made his Sensei twitch in annoyance.

They had just made it to where they would be training in what Naruto would affectionately describe as 'Toad Land.' It was an open area away from where the toads lived, though you wouldn't be able to tell by just glancing at it. They were still surrounded by tall mushrooms, and colorful foliage as far as the eye could see. It was nice and spacious, perfect for training.

"Tired, kid?" He asked, confused. "You went to bed even earlier than I did. How are you tired?

"Oh, uh." The blond scratched the back of his head nervously. If Jiraiya knew about what had happened last night, then there was a good chance their training would be postponed. After all, a big emphasis was put on whether or not he could handle intense training after the Land if Waves incident. "Ya see, I woke up super early in the morning to pee, but then I couldn't get myself to go back to sleep. Don't ya hate when that happens?" He lied.

Jiraiya nodded knowingly, accepting the lie. Now that the blond had mentioned it, Naruto had already been awake by the time he had gotten up.

"Just, try not to fall asleep on me. Today is really important for your training." This elicited a swift nod from his pupil. "Good." Jiraiya reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "You probably remember me showing you something like this." He said, flipping the page around so his student could look.

It was similar to what he had shown him a few months ago when they were in the early stages of training. Again, each of the seven days of the week was written out on the paper, Monday through Sunday. Each of those days when then enclosed by a shape, that shape indicated what type of training they would be doing on that specific day of the week. A way to simplify the layout of the training regimen enough where even Naruto could understand it.

This time around, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday were enclosed by a triangle, Wednesday and Sunday were contained by a square, and Monday and Friday were circled.

Already knowing that squares meant Taijutsu and circles were for weighted training, the blond only had one question on his mind. "So, what do the triangles stand for?" Today was Thursday, so whatever the triangle meant is what they were going to do.

"Simple. Ninjutsu." The Sage explained; toothy grin ever-present.

Naruto sat quietly, urging his instructor to continue with a knowing look.

Jiraiya frowned. "Huh, I thought you would be more excited than this, Naruto?"

The boy's face was nearly stoic. "I am, it's just a little difficult for me to show it right now." He forced himself to smile, though to Jiraiya it just looked like he was in pain.

The Sage winced at his words. 'I'm so stupid!' Mentally berating himself. Being more careful with words was a key point Fukasaku and Shima had mentioned to him last night after Naruto had gone off to bed.

"What Ninjutsu are we going to be working on?" The boy asked, trying to change the subject for his, and his Master's, sake.

"Well, if you remember, I had asked you to work on your Rasengan a while back. Being able to perform a Rasengan with just a single hand will make it a much more useful attack when in battle."

The boy nodded his agreeance, there was just one problem. "I have been trying for a while, but it's just too hard. At this rate, I'm going to spend all of the time we have for Ninjutsu just to learn how to do a proper Rasengan!"

Jiraiya smiled. When talking about Jutsu and getting stronger, a tiny bit of that sparkle returned to his pupil's eyes. It wasn't ideal, but it was an improvement, nonetheless.

Jiraiya held up a finger knowingly. "Funny you should mention that." Smirk fit perfectly to his face. "I had a hunch that this could be a problem, and I had been thinking about a way around it."

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about, Sensei?" The Genin retorted; eyes squinted in confusion.

"You know how you used your clones to read all of those books so quickly?" This registered a nod from his Godson. "Well, do you know how you were able to do that?"

"Well, yeah. You said that the clone's memories and experiences transferred themselves to me after they are dispelled." This was confusing. What did that have to do with anything?

"Well, if you can take the knowledge and memories of your clones, then there's a chance we could use that to help you learn Jutsu faster."

Naruto's eyes widened at this revelation, but before he could say anything Jiraiya continued to explain.

"If a group of you and 4 clones practice a Jutsu with you, there's a chance that their experience could transfer to you and you'll be able to learn that technique 5 times faster than you normally would be able to. In theory, at least. It most likely won't exactly be 5 times faster, but it would be faster than just you alone."

"That's amazing!" The blond exclaimed, reclaiming a bit of his trademark enthusiasm. "If this is possible, why don't I just make 100 clones?! That way I'll learn Jutsu super-fast!" This was it! He was going to be strong in no time!

The white-haired Sage held up a hand in protest. "Not so fast, kid." Tone firm, but not harsh. "Don't you remember what happened when you used only a handful of clones?"

Naruto winced, remembering the aftermath of an extra-long reading session with only 11 clones. He had passed out, and lying wasn't an option because his mentor had been there to wake him up.

"Your mind isn't developed enough to safely handle that amount of stress." He informed. 'Especially after everything that has happened, I can't risk straining him any more than he already has been.' The Jonin added mentally. "We're going to take this slow." Finishing aloud.

The Jinchuriki huffed but did not resist his Godfather's instructions. "I guess…" Knowing full well his guardian was right.

"Besides, you're not going to be only doing Ninjutsu on Ninjutsu days." He vaguely informed.

"Huh?" Head cocked comically to the side in confusion. "What do you mean? What else am I gonna be doing?"

Jiraiya smirked and grabbed a book from one of his bags. "Everyday, one of your clones is going to be taken aside to read things like this." Jiraiya tossed a book at the blond.

The blond caught it easily, reading the title with a curious look. "Fuinjutsu: The Sealing Arts for Beginners." Eyebrow fully raised. "Fuinjutsu. This sounds familiar." Where had he heard that?

"Your weights." He began, pointing to the weights strapped to the young boy's limbs. "I make them heavier by pumping chakra into the seals that I drew on them. When activated with my chakra, those written seals alter the intensity of the downward force of whatever is written on them."

"I was always meaning to ask you, why doesn't everyone use seals like these to get stronger?"

Jiraiya grinned proudly. "Well, it just so happens that you're looking at one of the few great seal masters left in the world."

The narcissism Naruto saw radiating off of his Godfather was practically palpable. "At least you're good at something besides perving!" Had to knock him back down a peg.

The self-proclaimed Super Pervert shook his head, unfazed by his pupil's words; they were getting off-topic.

"The seal on your stomach, as well." Jiraiya continued, pointing at the boy's midsection. "The Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed away inside you with an advanced form of Fuinjutsu." He watched as the boy gripped his stomach tightly on instinct. "Fuinjutsu has more uses than just sealing things away or into other things. It can be used to create barriers, contract seals, block the flow of chakra, restrict people's movements, and many other thngs. The potential of this art is only limited by the knowledge, creativity, and skill of the user."

"Seems like something that can be very useful." The blond mused as he flipped through the book he was given.

Had this been a few months ago, Naruto wouldn't even attempt to read a book like this. Now, though, he was more open to reading. Reading was something he enjoyed doing, as unbelievable as it sounded.

"Exactly. If you can learn how to utilize it, it will be a valuable tool in your arsenal." Jiraiya concluded. 'After all, with his natural creativity, his parents affinities for sealing, and my guidance... this kid has the potential to become one of the greatest seal Master's we've ever seen.' That would definitely be something that Naruto would not be hearing. The Genin was known for letting praise go to his head sometimes.

"That's another reason I can't have too many clones, right?" Naruto questioned. "If it was just the Ninjutsu, I might be able to get away with using more clones. But because my focus will be divided between Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu, it could potentially put even more strain on my mind."

"That's… right." Surprised that the blond was able to extrapolate that key fact from their conversation.

"So, how many clones do you want me to make?"

The Sannin thought for a moment, bringing a hand to his chin. After a moment of contemplation, he decided. "I would say, for now, 1 clone for reading and 4 for Ninjutsu. 5 in all.

A sharp nod was followed by hands swinging up to form the unique seal for shadow clones. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Was followed by 5 plumes of smoke.

…

Several hours had passed. The Genin was panting heavily as he brought his hand up to slightly below shoulder level once again, palm facing upwards. The ridges of the palm were scuffed up from chakra burns. The day had consisted of the clones and him forming their respective Rasengan's, doing their best to tighten the rotation of the Jutsu, and the original having his Jutsu blow up in his face. Jiraiya had made it clear that the clones shouldn't be condensing their Rasengan's too much. That way they didn't get constantly dispelled from explosions all day, thus saving precious chakra while also still getting valuable experience.

Though, it was beginning to get a little frustrating. No progress was being made. Running a hand through singed hair once again, he sighed and began to form chakra in his palm once more.

"Wait, Naruto."

"What?" The boy responded grumpily. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, not after getting blown up the entire day. It wasn't fun!

"Dispel your clones."

Naruto gave a confused look but obliged anyway. There was usually a method to the pervs madness.

'Poof!'

The Sannin watched his student carefully.

After dispelling the technique, the world began to spin a little. Stumbling a little, the original orange-clad ninja did his best to maintain balance. After a few moments, the sensation went away, and he was able to take in the experiences that all of the clones had gathered. Though, they had left the clone that was reading. Jiraiya had said that it probably wasn't a good idea to simultaneously dispel clones that were doing two different things for a long period of time. Taking in all of that differing information might be too much for him as of right now. Maybe after getting used to the sensation it wouldn't matter as much, but right now it was better to be safe than sorry.

Slowly, the pieces of the training were falling into the appropriate places.

"How do you feel?" Jiraiya asked cautiously. It didn't appear the effects of the training were harmful, but being completely sure was something that had to be done.

"I feel good." Naruto replied honestly. It pained him to admit it, but his Mentor had been right. Though it wasn't severe by any means, 4 clones had more of an effect that he had anticipated. If they had done it the way the blond wanted, let's just say passing out again was extremely likely.

"Good. Now try the Rasengan again."

"Okay…" The boy responded closely, not expecting this result to be any different. Getting into a balanced stance, he brought his palm up and began to gather chakra. Taking it slowly, the chakra began to spin faster and faster. Once it reached a speed that was deemed acceptable, the focus shifted to increasing power by condensing the chakra down into a super-tight ball. Little by little, the ball got smaller, while still maintaining the rotational speed. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

"Woah, this is the farthest I've ever gotten."

'Boom!'

Being surprised by the rapid improvement, the trainee lost focus and the result was a destabilized Rasengan explosion.

"Oof!" Naruto yelped as he was thrown to the ground by the force.

Jiraiya let out a bark of laughter but was nonetheless very pleased with the fruits of his student's labor. It appeared to have positive effects after all. "How did that feel, Gaki? Do you think training with the clones helped you at all?"

"Definitely." Was the joyful response as the pupil picked himself off of the ground. "It still needs a ton more practice, but that is honestly the only progress I've made on the Rasengan in a long time!"

"That's great!" Jiraiya explained. "You know, now that we're done with training today, we should celebrate a little!"

Naruto was interested. "Really? How?"

Jiraiya just smirked and pulled out a scroll from his sleeve that had a symbol on it that the blond now recognized.

"Hey, I know what that is! That's a storage seal, right?" The boy stopped for a moment. "Wait, how do I know that?" Glancing over at where the scholarly clone had been sitting, they noticed that it was no longer there. During the explosion it must have either gotten caught up in the blast or accidentally dispelled by a distracted Naruto.

After realizing what had happened, the both quickly recovered. "That's right. Good job, kid." His Sensei responded proudly. "Looks like you're retaining what you're reading pretty well, huh?"

"Hehehe." Naruto laughed as he put his arms behind his head in his trademark pose. It made Jiraiya so happy to see him like that again, even just for a split second.

"But what's more important is what's sealed inside."

Naruto watched curiously as his mentor undid the seal to release…

"Instant ramen?!" Tears began to form at the corner of his eyes. This truly was a beautiful moment. After all of the bugs, he had been eating the past two days he needed some ramen in his life. "You're the best…"

"Don't expect this every time, Gaki. You deserve a treat, but it won't be very often."

"Yes, Sir!"

* * *

The ANBU, after a long bit of traveling North, finally arrived in the Village Hidden in Hot Water. After being shut down by Jiraiya of the Sannin, they had decided to split into two groups. One group would go back to the village and inform the Hokage and the Elders of Jiraiya's defiance, and the others would retrieve the man who was granted asylum to protect him from the Akatsuki after he assisted Jiraiya.

The group of eight was now four, not including Yamato as he also had returned to the Leaf. This group was now split into two groups of two. While the others were busy retrieving the newest member of the village, the second group were to examine the house of the now-dead informant neighbor, Naki. If Jiraiya wasn't going to relay any information to the Elders, only Tsunade, then it was their job to do that. That is if they could even find anything noteworthy.

'Knock Knock.'

"Please open the door. We are here to take you to the Hidden Leaf Village by way of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama." They waited for a response, but after a couple of moments, there still hadn't been a response.

The attending ANBU sighed but maintained his professional demeanor. "Sir, I know that you are probably scared, but we are allies of the man who had been here a few days ago. The one you helped; we would like to return that kindness."

This time, the ninja could discern some soft sounds coming from behind the door that sounded like walking. Sure enough, a few seconds later the door made a soft 'click' and it opened up to reveal the same man that Jiraiya had met. Bald, middle-aged, and with a thick beard. Though he was hiding partially behind the door so not all of his body could be seen.

"Finally, you came!" He sounded overjoyed by the arrival of the nice shinobi. "I was scared they were going to come back for me!"

"Don't worry." The ANBU reassured. "You'll be safe behind the walls of the Leaf."

The old gentleman nodded vigorously in agreeance. "Thank you very much."

The two that had been searching through Naki's house, now done with their task, regrouped with the others. "There wasn't any information in there that Danzo would find useful." Tone even, but with a hint of disappointment.

The others nodded, looking back to their escort. "We should be leaving now. Are you ready? Do you have everything that you need?"

"Sure do!" Gesturing to the bag that had a strap hanging over his shoulder. "I don't need to bring much, just the necessities. The name is Sozoku, by the way."

"We must inspect your personal items. It is protocol." To which Sozoku agreed willingly and handed over his belongings. One of the ANBU searched it thoroughly. He found it a bit odd that there appeared to be no sentimental items such as pictures or letters, but as long as there was nothing to harm Leaf Villagers it wasn't important. All that was in there was food, water, and a bedroll for sleeping during the long trip. The Jonin nodded and handed back the bag. The four Leaf Elite nodded, happy that they would finally be able to return home after this ordeal. "Then let us go."

The man nodded, and walked out of his house on his crutches to follow them.

The ANBU, with their backs now turned to the man, were unable to see his face contort into a smug smirk...

* * *

 **Author's Note: The plot is moving along once again as Naruto resumes his training. And before anyone asks, no, Naruto is not going to learn Sage Mode while at Mt. Myoboku. It will be addressed in chapter 11 as to why that is, I just wanted to make it clear in case anyone leaves a review warning me to not make him too strong before returning to the village. (Or someone leaving a review telling me to make him overpowered)**

 **As for chapter 11, which will come after the Omake Part 2, we will finally be getting a decent sized time skip. He won't be returning to the village yet, but the advancement of time is going to quicken a tad as we get closer and closer to his return. There's still a few things I want to show and some other surprises, so don't worry. I'll do my best to keep these next couple of chapters interesting.**

 **Lastly, if you want to see a specific person's perspective in part 2 'Life in the Leaf' let me know in the reviews. I will only be doing a few people, so that it isn't too long of a chapter. There are 4 people who will definitely be in the chapter, so I might have room for one or two suggestions if people tell me who it is they want to see. Okay? Good.**

 **Again, thank you so much for reading.**

* * *

 **LordAries34 \- I understand that why some people don't like the Omake because it departs from the main story, but there are many people (through both reviews and PM's) that have expressly stated that they want to see it. That's why I ask people to review because I read every single one and take them into account. But I also understand that I cannot make everyone happy, so if you truly dislike the Omake's then I apologize, but I will be finishing it as promised. **

**ThelittleKing** **\- I'm glad you enjoyed it! As for Naruto's reaction to the revelation, considering what he had just been through, he had been too distraught by what happened in Wave to be mad at Jiraiya. Including that putting that interaction there just didn't seem right. All he was concerned about at that moment was that he actually had a family. However, it was addressed in this chapter after a little time had passed and I hope the interaction was to your liking or was at least acceptable.**

 **Time Parad0x \- I understand where you are coming from, but I have to disagree with you on several points. To start off, the bad guys did not accomplish any of their goals, because their only goal was to capture Naruto and they didn't do it. (Tazuna was a minor mission that Kakuzu carried out by himself and the reward was very small so I wouldn't count this as an objective of the Akatsuki.) ****And even if they had accomplished everything with no consequences at that exact moment, that doesn't make it a bad thing. In chess if someone takes one of your pieces you may not immediately be able to fire back and take one of theirs in retaliation. All that matters is that by the end of the game you claim their King.**

 **While I agree it is not good that Akatsuki learned of the Leaf's Wood Style user, it shouldn't be crucial intel that a 13 year old could will become mentally vulnerable when someone important is killed in front of them. That seems like a normal reaction considering the circumstances.**

 **Most importantly, Jiraiya's best move was to not engage the Akatsuki. Even though it was possible he could've reduced the Akatsuki's numbers, there was no guarantee. Jiraiya's focus should be entirely on the development of Naruto. If he were to die, who would be strong enough to train Naruto to beat the Akatsuki? At this juncture, Jiraiya is the most important character in the story so he cannot take risks like that. Especially when his opponents abilities are relatively unknown.**

 **You're right that it is a wasted opportunity, but things rarely work out perfectly. There are always hiccups and adjustments must be made on the fly. You don't know until later whether or not you made the right decision.**

 **Flying Raijin \- Minor plot point, but I have seen clones take a good bit of damage before dispelling in the Anime and Manga. Clones are not as fragile as that, so I don't think biting the tip of the thumb should be enough to dispel it.**

 **As for the man's leg, they did not want to draw more attention in The Village Hidden in Hot Water because they knew Jiraiya would be investigating in that area. Had they killed 50 people there, Jiraiya would've known it was Akatsuki, and maybe would have rushed back to Naruto's side. They were trying to minimize their involvement to further stall him, though it didn't end up working how they thought it would. In Wave, they had no need to hold back because they thought their only threat was far enough away that they wouldn't have to worry. You are right that villages may begin to take notice, but that would have happened if they had taken the Nine-Tails early anyway. It was a risk they were willing to take.** **Orrrrrrrr maybe there was another reason entirely that I won't say yet. Who knows?** **Hope my explanation helped!**

 **Hadrian Eveningshade \- What is 3/10? The chapter? The Story? Lemme know what you mean and why you think that way. Thanks!**

 **Zabzab \- ****Thank you for reading and leaving your thoughts, even if you didn't agree with my writing. I appreciate the fair criticism and civility.**

 **As for you issue, I feel as though Jiraiya feeling that ninja need to figure things out on their own is very in character of him. I'm not saying I agree with it, but it is something that would and has happened. He has said things very similar to this when he taught Naruto the Rasengan. In reality, Naruto taught himself the Rasengan and Jiraiya only gave small tips for him to go off of. I want to keep him in character. Later on in my story, he does take a more active role in Naruto's training, but I can't simply start off with Jiraiya acting differently than what he is portrayed as in the original series.**


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